“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 maid’s services were really good. She looked up at her and smiled.
“Thank you,” she said.
The maid beamed. “Your escort is here, my lady.”
Her heart began to beat. Why was she suddenly shy? She mentally shook and collected herself. She already promised to keep her feelings in check and by the heavens, she would do just that.
Demeus stood outside the inn after paying the stable hand for feeding and watering the horse the previous. He was impatient to begin his work as her escort done and over with, the sooner he satisfied her curiosity the better because then he wouldn’t have to worry about keeping his hands off her. He had given the stable hand instructions to keep the horse in the stable since they would be moving through the city by foot.
There was a slight commotion inside the inn and before he could figure out what it was about Helena stumbled out of the inn, she had stripped on the hem of her dress but she caught herself before hitting the ground.
“Sorry. Morning Ramus,” she laughed. She held the hem of her dress up with one hand and looked up at him. He caught his breath. Could a woman look any more beautiful? Even when she looked embarrassed at tripping over her cloth she still managed to take his breath away. The veil on her head was almost the same as her vibrant red hair and he ached to reach out and pull the veil off so he could run his hands through her hair.
Helena swallowed at the look she saw in his eyes. It was a look of longing and aching, she had been with Robos long enough to recognize the look whenever an Adonis passed him by. But this was different from what she saw in Robos’ eyes, this made her feel different and she found herself liking the feeling.
“I have packed some food for you both,” the innkeeper whose name Helena discovered was Gran. Gran was a motherly figure to all who stayed at her inn or eat and drank at her tavern. She was looking from Helena to Demeus with a smile on her face and that alone made Helena’s cheeks hot.
“Thank you, Gran,” she collected the bag the woman was holding out to her and smiled at Demeus who was narrowing his eyes at the woman’s meddlesome behavior.
“Let’s start going before it gets too sunny.”
Helena walked beside him. As she requested he took her to see the markets. In Eyrotia there were general markets and there were markets where specific products were sold. The cotton market was occupied by only cotton farmers who processed and spun cotton, same as the markets where oils were pressed from eucalyptus seeds, castor beans and other seeds, the fish market was where fishermen like Banjo sold their products ranging from fish, salts and all kinds of seafoods. The general markets had people dealing in all kinds of products ranging from fruits, foodstuffs, clothes, daggers, there were even blacksmith shops. Helena was fascinated by the way the people worked. At Mount Kpamos she was never too fascinated by mortals but being in close range with them she could see how hard they worked calling out to passersby to buy their wares, exchanging pleasantries, gossiping about the latest things in the village. Demeus told her the names of some of the things the traders sold. As noon drew near her stomach began to rumble. She brought out some of the fruits Gran had packed for them and shared them with Demeus.
Helena wasn’t one to be drawn to pieces of jewelry but as they passed a jeweler’s shop she could not help noticing the beautiful stones that caught the light of the sun. There were bracelets, necklaces, rings, earrings, nose rings and many other pieces of jewelry she had never seen before.
Demeus caught the look on Helena’s face. Of all the shops they passed this was the one that fascinated her the most and he should know because he had been watching her since they left the inn. The expression on her face was of childlike curiosity as they walked around. It made him wonder. She was of such free spirit that it was easy to assume that she was used to seeing things like this. It made him wonder if this was the first time she had such freedom to explore as she wished. She had mentioned that she was a merchant’s daughter and merchants were known to be very protective of their children, especially their daughters.
He took her elbow and directed her towards the shop.
“Let’s have a look.”
Helena started to protest. “But what…” She didn’t want to delay then from getting back to the inn, she was already embarrassed enough for almost falling in front of him when she was coming out of the inn. She had just been surprised to see him standing there, a head and shoulders taller than the other people around him. His figure was imposing but when he saw her the look in his eyes had turned her brain to mush for a second.
Before she could complete her statement the owner of the shop, a slim middle-aged man with white greying hair and another young man came out of the shop.
The middle-aged man exclaimed as he clapped his hands together. “Welcome, welcome to Ignas shop where you can find any stone your heart desires.”
Before either she or Demeus could say another word the man was pulling them into his shop with smiles while hailing his agreeably expensive collection of jewels.
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
Three months after the birth of the child Oya visited the palace in the dead of the night in the disguise of a fellow servant along with her daughter, Goyre, a tall slim goddess with a figure that was a replicate of her mother's. She was the product of Oya’s unfaithful affair against Demeus. They both looked down on the child who slept peacefully in the arms of her mother, their skin color and other features a clear contrast. “So this is the child of Demeus? The child of prophecy?” Goyre looked into the child’s face. “She looks just like any mortal would. Are you sure she is a goddess mother?” “The prophecy says so. She was born of two gods after all” Oya touched her daughter’s head of thick black hair. “Goyre, you must promise me that you’ll find a way to get rid of the prophecy. It must never come to pass. If it does, everything we know and have will get destroyed.” Goyre looked up at her tall, elegant mother with gleaming black skin and dee