Empress of the Gods

Atarah

After they spent days walking in the heat of the sun, Atarah felt relieved when they sighted a lake near the road, making them know a village was close. The caravans stopped to prepare the few tents they had for the show as a few of Hannele’s people went to the village to announce their arrival.

The sun reflected on the water as if the sunrays were stars. She could hear the soft sound of the birds’ songs out there, as well as the water tapping with the rocks on the shore. The colors of the flowers seemed so bright that a painting wouldn’t do justice to what her eyes were seeing.

Everyone seemed to be busy, or at least she expected them to be.

Atarah needed a good bath. She hated to feel sticky thanks to the sweat on her skin, and she couldn’t help thinking she smelled bad. So, she approached the lake and put a hand in the water, feeling how it instantly refreshed her skin.

The caravans were a bit far from the lake, allowing her some kind of privacy, although she knew it wouldn’t be much. Someone could approach at any time, but she was very hesitant that anyone would since they were busy. She approached a tree that was near the lake shore and dropped her green dress in the grass, leaving only a long-sleeve undergarment she wore underneath. She first glanced toward the caravans before she took another step into the water, and with each step, cold water refreshed her skin. The water was so crystal clear that she could see the rocks as well as the colors of the fish that swam around her.

She dove in, wetting her hair and pulling it up when she got out to the surface. A smile drew on her face when she began to move away from the shore by pushing back the water with her arms as she moved her feet. Floating in the water as if she were a feather made her feel free. Her sleeved undergarments that looked like a white dress floated with her. She stayed like that for a moment, feeling the sunlight on her face.

That moment was like a breath of much-needed fresh air after days of being on the run, which made her feel relieved and guilty at the same time. It didn’t feel right to enjoy that moment when she didn’t know where Myrah could be.

On the nights William and Atarah were watching the camp, they hadn’t said another word. They didn’t flirt again. She tried not to think about it, but she couldn’t stop thinking about William, wondering if he was even thinking about her.

She was so grateful that they couldn’t do anything thanks to all the people around them. Not to mention the shapeshifters around them had a good sense of hearing. That was like a bucket of cool water she needed to keep it together.

She was about to return to shore when she saw Will. She hid behind a rock that was nearby. He was bathing in the lake near the tree where she had left her clothes. The water reached him a little above the waist, showing his muscular naked torso. A black ink tattoo stood on one shoulder that ended on his wrist. It seemed to be words in another language made of straight lines. The Eirian Forest monster’s teeth were marked on his other shoulder, making it the biggest scar he had on his beautiful skin. Some others were the size of the wound she healed when she first met him.

Seeing him like that wasn’t helping her to get him out of her head. She couldn’t help but look.

William ran his hands over his curls, pulling them back after he had submerged into the water. He seemed to be enjoying the warmth of the sun, as if he wanted to absorb as much light as he could. When he got close to the shore, he let his hands fall to the sides, barely touching the water with his fingers, showing how the veins of his arms marked.

Atarah rested her forehead on her hands as her hands rested on the rock. She was sure she was in trouble, and maybe she wanted to be in trouble. She closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them again and step away from the rock, she no longer saw him there.

Oh, no. No. No. She thought as she looked for him, but she couldn’t find him. The best thing she could do was get out of there, so she swam towards the shore where she had left her dress when she saw him come out to the surface. She thought about pretending like she hadn’t seen him, even though it was too late for that.

For Sonneus and all the gods in the Asteria castle. Busted.

“What are you doing here?” She dared to ask him, trying to play a fool even when she was the one who had been caught.

Sonneus.

“What are you doing here?” he asked her back.

“I asked first,” she quickly replied, which made him beam at her, showing his teeth and marking his dimples. She was starting to like that smile. “What?” she curiously asked, feeling a smile on her face.

“Nothing, only that it seems we had the same idea.”

“Yes, the water… feels good,” she answered in which he agreed, nodding with his head.

The water feels good?

Atarah blamed his beautiful ocean eyes that she wanted to get lost in. Days ago, she had been bold enough to tell him that she practically wanted to get into his bed and now that she had him nearby, she could not say anything more than that the water felt good.

They were not that different, but they seemed to be two drops of water in an immense sea and for the first time she could read his emotions without having to use her gifts because she could see it in his eyes.

He had a storm inside him in the same way she did, only that he seemed to have given up a long time ago, as if there was only one reason to keep going. A single purpose, yet she didn’t know what it was, and she could bet it was not the dagger.

When they shook hands about the truce, she remembered what she saw in his eyes. She could imagine how difficult it must have been for him to stay away from his family and be trained for a single purpose.

The battle he had in his mind was similar to hers.

William had a deep pain in his heart and soul, which made her understand his behavior, as well as the reason why he hardly smiled. She understood it because she felt the same way even when she always smiled, like nothing troubled her, but inside it was another story. The difference was that William didn’t hide his pain and his anger.

She had never felt so vulnerable and scared in her life, and somehow, for a moment, she felt relieved to know that she wasn’t the only one with chaos inside her because it made her feel less alone.

The man in front of her might be growling all the time, but there were times when she had seen kindness in those eyes. She saw it with Hanneles’ people. He was not like the other hunters, and she refused to believe he was. He was different.

William looked around with wide eyes, which made her look around them and admire the drops of water that rose in the air that reflected the light in the water. It seemed as if it had been raining in broad daylight. His mouth curved into a smile, and his reaction reminded her of a kid seeing a magic trick.

“Are you doing this?” he asked when he touched a drop with his finger.

“I don’t know,” she replied in complete amusement at the sight of that. “I don’t remember being born with a gift related to water,” she added, looking down at the palms of her hands that were slightly backwards, as if the gift came out of her wrists. As soon as she moved her hands, the drops fell, leaving a small rainbow behind. The way he looked at her it was the first time someone looked at her that way.

“I’d better get out of the water,” she told him before she swam to the shore where she had left her clothes, feeling the sleeved undergarment stitched to her as if it were her second skin when she came out of the water.

“Wait.” Will followed her but didn’t come out of the water. He only stayed close to the shore.

She turned to see him with her dress that she picked from the floor, feeling the cold air of the shadow of the tree on her skin. She waited for him to say anything, but he didn’t say another word. He only looked at her as if she was the most beautiful creature that ever existed.

“Could you?” she asked him, rolling her finger to indicate to him that she needed him to turn around so she could put on her dress. He immediately understood what she meant and obeyed. When she put on her dry dress, she took her wet undergarment from the floor and left William there before something else could happen. As much as she wanted something else to happen, she couldn’t allow it. It took her a long time to reconcile with the idea that love was not in the cards for her due to her situation.

When he asked her if she had suitors, she spoke the truth. They only got lost in the driadae beauty. They weren’t looking for something else. Neither was Atarah. She hadn’t been interested in knowing them like she wanted to with him.

It was insane what she was thinking. He was a hunter, and she was a creature, yet they were so similar that she might be seeing her own reflection.

Something deep inside her told her William was lying when he told her there was no one else. She could recognize another lonely heart when hers was barely beating because even when the situation was different, the pain was the same.

Part II

Nothing is what it seems.