SWNOVELS Trust (chapter 10)
Dunn:
She smiles at me as I approach her.
“I didn’t mean to pry, I just wanted to thank-“
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it” she should though, she should worry. But instead, she smiles at me as though I am her savior and I am nothing of the kind.
She has a beautiful smile, her eyes have faint crinkling around the edges. She looks innocent and- well happy. I’ve never seen her smile. Her life here thus far has been one of servitude and sadness. Priestesses are not a smiling bunch- except for the seductive smile they wear when trying to get extra tips from worshipers.
But she trusts me; I can see it in her eyes and in her posture. The beautiful woman that I have been watching for months trusts me. I feel a warmth in my chest before it’s snuffed out by the icy feeling of dread.
I can’t allow her to compromise this. I can’t let the very real sacrifices of Maya and even the senators come to nothing because Rachel tells someone about our plans. No, I promised the goddess that I would do what needed to be done, knowing it might come to this.
“Are you….?” She leans forward to whisper “are you the one giving information to the senate?”
My eyes dart around the square. I’m even more aware of our surroundings and I need to get her somewhere so I can deal with her without witnesses. The small number of Pinns walking about is a few too many for what might be in store.
“Let discuss this elsewhere…” I search my mind for a suitable location. We can’t go back to the temple, I doubt Mrs. Garrett would appreciate a visit of this kind, no, I know where I have to take her “my apartment will be private enough for us to talk”
“Okay” she smiles up at me and I abruptly turn and begin walking towards my apartment so I don’t have to face her, but even walking I am constantly aware of her presence, aware of her sweet delicate scent, aware of the near-silent patter of her shoes on the cobblestone.
She follows me, innocent of the danger I pose to her. I peek at her and she is looking about as we walk through the streets and enter the Ginham district. She has probably never been outside of the central district- the life of a priestess without any children can be very restrictive- there are probably many things about Pinn she hasn’t seen.
I twist the key and push open my door to my apartment, pulling Rachel in after me.
My entryway is crowded with shoes and coats thrown over a bench. It wasn’t long ago it was clean and bare. I miss those days.
“You’re home!” Maya squeaks as she appears out of the kitchen with a towel thrown over her shoulder. I was hoping she would be at the temple. Her eyes slide to Rachel and they narrow.
I grunt at her and I clench my teeth. Maya gets on my nerves so much that just seeing her threatens to set me off. Only the goddess knows how much I have struggled having her in my home.
“Hi” Rachel greets Maya. They must know each other from the temple, but they act more like strangers. Maya ignores her and looks right at me curiously.
“Maya…” I need to get her out of here, “why don’t you go out and do some shopping for an hour or two?”
She doesn’t immediately reply, instead her eyes slide to Rachel again. Does she think I brought Rachel here to fuck her? I haven’t touched Maya in all the time she has been living with me, despite a few attempts on her part early on. Goddess knows she probably thought she had to in order to secure her position as my personal priestess. But it was never about that for me, I wanted to get her as far from the temple as I reasonably could to secure her testimony. And also protect her, yes, also protect her since I could.
“Here” I grab some coins and place them directly in Maya’s hand. She still seems unsure, looking between me and Rachel, and I bite down to keep myself from telling her off.
She closes her hand with the coins and slowly places them in a pocket, “Yes…mm… I’ll go for a walk on the high street”
I watch her set her dishtowel on the bench and pick up a thick purple shawl to throw over her robes. She gives me an odd look as she exits through the door and then I hear the scraping noise of the door being locked.
Now it’s just me and her.
Rachel is just watching me and I have to take a deep breath so I can deal with her.
“She doesn’t know, does she?”
I don’t answer her. She doesn’t need to know that Maya will be testifying soon. Not that it matters if she won’t be around to tell.
“Through here” I show her to the sitting room and have her sit on my light blue couch. It’s a sunny room and that is why I have always liked it so much. Large windows face the street allowing sunlight to filter in even in the dark winter months. My two couches are filled with new pillows that Maya recently purchased, and a new rug sits in the center of the stone floor.
All will soon be stained crusty red.
I wonder if Maya will be mad that her new decorations will be stained.
I sit on the couch opposite. I should probably offer her a drink- that seems like the polite thing to do- but my mind can’t fathom going through the motions.
I’ve never killed. Never hurt any of the priestesses, no that’s not true, I use to use them for worship in the temple before I became a priest. It’s a black mark on my soul from the before times, from before I realized the abuse that was right in front of my face.
She looks so innocent sitting there, her eyes roaming around the room. Her robes spread out on the couch of almost the same color. When did she take her coat off? She’s probably never been inside a Pinn apartment before.
Maybe I should strangle her, less mess to clean, right? How hard can it be to wrap my hands around her neck? I look down at my hands held before me, they look large compared to her slender neck.
But it’s her sweet voice that disrupts my thinking:
“So, can I help?”
*****
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