The Fates

Celia laid herself down on the bench, too tired to hold herself upright but she managed to stay awake. It wasn’t long until she heard Rhale’s voice, “What’s wrong with her?”

Celia felt Rhale's warm hand on her face, she opened her eyes and saw him looking at her worryingly.

“I’m fine.”

“She is but she won’t be unless we hurry things up” Mildritha said to them while she forced herself to sit upright again, “You have promised to keep her safe, how will you uphold your promise?”

Rhale didn’t answer, he sat himself down next to Celia and put his arm around her, letting her rest against his side.

“You know what dangers await her and you know that there is only one way to make her stand above the law of the King, only one way to make her untouchable.”

Celia looked up at Rhale, he was frowning in confusion but she saw the moment he understood what Mildritha meant, his eyes turned round and his eyebrows rose, she would have found it comical had she not been so tired.

“I will not subject her to such a fate”

“Then tell me your plan, how will you keep her safe?”

“There are other ways, there are people who are loyal to me and would come if I called.”

“Even when they find out what she is? And even so, would they dare to go against the King? There is only one race who holds such power.”

“She is only nineteen years of age, how could we ask that of her?” Rhale’s voice was dripping with venom, almost spitting the words out “The custom has not been used for centuries and for good reason.”

“Yet they would allow it if you asked.” It wasn’t a question, the both of them stared at each other and it made Celia feel uncomfortable.

“Perhaps she should have a say in it? I can see that you clearly care for her.”

“Of course I care for her but again, she is young, what does she know about what she really wants? A year from now, ten years from now? There is no changing one's mind.”

“There are worse fates”

Celia tried hard to follow their conversation but her mind was slipping and her head fell to Rhale’s shoulder. She felt his arms come around her, lifting her up and she rested her head on his hard chest. They were walking now, back to the wooded door.

“I will spare you the trip down the mountain” Mildritha walked up to them and rested her hand on Celia’s cheek “Ask him about what I meant. Stay safe dear Celia and know that I am watching you.” Mildritha stood back and opened the door for them but before Rhale could walk out Mildritha spoke again.

“Protect her Rhale son of Atrox, at all costs, I am watching you too.”

With one last nod Rhale walked out the door and it closed behind them with a loud thud.

As soon as they were behind the door Celia’s head stopped spinning and her body began to feel normal. They weren’t where they had first entered, instead they were at the foot of the mountain where they first had started to climb it.

Rhale walked forward and sat her down on a fallen tree, crouching down in front of her.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m beginning to feel normal again” her body didn’t feel heavy anymore and her mind became clearer. Celia could hear Taurus approaching them and she smiled, she knew he wouldn’t leave them.

“What did she mean?” Celia asked before she had a chance to forget “Mildritha? How can anyone be above the King's law?”

But Rhale didn’t answer her, instead he went and saddled Taurus, avoiding looking at Celia. She frowned deeply, why wouldn't Rhale tell her?

Annoyed, Celia stood up, testing her feet first and when she found that she truly was back to normal she walked up to Rhale.

“If there is such a thing then I have a right to know about it.” She crossed her arms and looked angrily at him, his head lowered and she heard him sigh before he muttered something under his breath “Well?”

When he still didn’t answer or even look at her she grabbed his hand and stopped him from tightening the saddle. “Rhale! I have a right to know.”

“It is a Gods law, the joining of two people. A sort of marriage if you will, if any harm came to a God’s joined one all the Gods would be bound to serve justice.”

Celia’s arms fell to her side, “oh”, joining? Marriage? She hadn’t expected that.

Rhale turned to face her, his huge statue looming over her as he looked down into her eyes “Oh? Not what you expected? The joining is forever, it is merging two souls into one. The joining takes seven days and afterwards one can not live without the other.”

“Oh” she couldn’t very well ask that of him, to be bound to her forever. Or worse, what if she had a human lifespan? Would he then die when she did? Not that it mattered, if he would be joining anyone it most likely be a Goddess, not her...

Rhale’s arm came around her waist and she was pulled roughly to him. One of his hands grabbed her hair and forced her head up, his lips close to hers as he spoke. “The ceremony itself doesn’t take very long but the joining itself takes seven days and those seven days are spent in the bedroom.”

“Oh” was all she could say, her belly was doing flip flops again.

“Oh” he said with a smirk before releasing her.

“So we go to the King then?” Celia knew that the King soon would have people out looking for her, there was no way to avoid it. She couldn’t ask Rhale to marry her, or join, so there was little else that could be done.

“Maybe it won’t be so bad” she said more to herself then him.

“There is a small human town near here, we should go there and talk about what we are going to do but one thing is certain, you are not going to the King.”

Humans, as Celia understood it, could not smell what she was, so she supposed they would be safe there for the time being. Still maybe it was better if she left Rhale and went to the King herself, if the King found out that Rhale was protecting her, hiding her…

She didn’t want Rhale to get into any trouble because of her. She remembered that Rhale had said that he had people that were loyal to him but she couldn’t let anyone deify the King. Especially not because she was too scared to face whatever it was that awaited her at court.

Taurus galloped as fast as always when they left Dianthus mountain behind and instead of riding towards the dark forest they rode away from it. While they rode Celia contemplated what she should do, she didn’t want to leave Rhale but the guilt she was feeling told her that she couldn’t let him put himself at risk for her.

There was also the question of how. If she were to leave him and go to court herself, how was she going to get there? She didn’t even know where court was, even if she did, how was she going to get away from Rhale without him noticing? Or at the very least without him stopping her?

Celia swore to herself that if an opportunity presented itself she would take it, he had done so much for her already. She decided that she couldn’t, wouldn’t, ask anymore of him.

Celia was extremely thirsty and hungry by the time she saw signs of life, a wall made out of wood stood high around a bustling town. She couldn’t see behind the walls but she could hear shouting and music coming from behind it even though it was dark now. Guards were standing at the entrance, spears at the ready as they approached.

“State your name and business!” One of the guards shouted while taking a step forward but as soon as he saw Rhale he took a step back in fright.

“My name is Rhale and we have come to take shelter for the night” Rhale said, unbothered by the guard’s reaction to him. Celia supposed that he was used to men stepping back in fear when they saw him but she often forgot how frightening he really was.

“O..fff off course” the guard stuttered “Let them through!” He yelled to the other guards and they all stepped to the side, Taurus moved forward and she noticed how the guards wide eyes stared up at Rhale as they passed.

“Your reputation precedes you” Celia said jokingly to him, she found it rather funny how people hurried away as they rode past them. He only grunted in response, apparently not finding it very funny at all.

They stopped in front of one of the taverns and unlike the last time people were walking in and out, merrily talking and drinking.

Rhale helped her down and he went to work on unsaddling Taurus and as soon as Taurus was tended to they made their way to the entrance, Celia stayed close next to Rhale.

A drunken man stumbled in front of them “Hey miss, can I” he began to say to Celia but was stopped by his slightly less drunken companion who had seen Rhale, “Terribly sorry, my friend means no harm” he said as he forcefully dragged the other man away.

“People are really scared of you” Celia told Rhale, it was less amusing now, when they entered the tavern people grew quiet as they saw him, some whispered among themselves and others shrugged back, sinking into their chairs.

“You never were” Rhale told her while they moved towards the bar, no she hadn’t been, then again he had saved her. Had they met under different circumstances maybe she would have been as frightened as every one else seemed to be.

“A room” Rhale said to the man standing behind the bar and he laid down coins on the counter, the man’s eyes were wide but he hurriedly took the coins and gave them a key.

“Our best one” the man said and Rhale nodded in reply.

Rhale guided her upstairs and once they were in their room Celia felt herself relax. The room was small but a sizable bed stood in the middle of it, it was a lot better than sleeping outside.

“I’ll get someone to bring you some water so you can clean up, come down when you're done and eat some food.” Rhale left before she had a chance to reply. Maybe it would be easier getting away from him then she thought, but she still didn’t have a plan on how in the world she was going to get to court.

A woman came with a basin of cold water and a bar of soap but what surprised her was that the woman had also brought a combe and a simple dress for Celia.

“That man paid for it, the big scary looking one” the woman said as she handed her the dress “it’s not fancy but I hope it will fit”

“Thank you” Celia took the dress and gave her a small smile. As soon as the woman left she walked over to the mirror that was hanging on one of the walls. She must be horrifying to look at if Rhale had thought to buy her a comb. Celia’s appearance shocked her, her hair was a mess and dirt was covering almost her entire face.

She let out a groan of embarrassment, she really was a mess.

Celia washed herself thoroughly, harshly scrubbing away the dirt and sweet that had accumulated since her last bath in the stream. When she was done she combed out the tangy mess that was her hair until it was soft and smooth again.

The dress was a bit too small around Celia's chest, making her show a bit more cleavage than she would have liked but the brown material felt soft and it was the perfect length.

Celia looked herself in the mirror again, happy that she no longer looked terrible she hurried down stairs, her stomach was growling with hunger.

Celia looked around the room, there were so many people everywhere drinking and laughing that she felt herself grow shy and she lowered her eyes to the floor. The smell of food invaded her senses and made her mouth water, she mustered up the courage to lift her head and look around for Rhale.

Celia spotted Rhale by a table in the middle of the room, he was talking animatedly to a man that was sitting in front of him. She slowly made her way over to them, having to navigate around the bustling room.

Before Celia had made it halfway to the table where Rhale was sitting a man grabbed her arm. “Come sit here girl” The man reeked of ale and smiled crookedly at her, he slapped his lap loudly to emphasize what he wanted her to do.

Before Celia had a chance to react Rhale had already moved to stand beside her and had the man's wrist in a firm grip.

“You better let go of the lady” Rhale’s voice was dark and threatening and the man released her instantly and looked between them with his eyebrows raised.

“I didn’t know she was with you, my apologies”

Rhale walked Celia to his table and she took a seat beside him, letting out a sigh of relief. She could hear the man who had reeked of ale yell for another one and she leaned a bit closer to Rhale’s comforting form.

“And who might you be?” The man sitting in front of them asked Celia, his red beard reached down past the table and his brown eyes seemed to smile as he spoke.

“This is Celia, Celia meet Beard '' Rhale gestured between them.

“Let me guess, because of the Beard?” Celia asked.

“Ay” Beard laughed, “So how does a beautiful young lass end up beside an old prick like him?”

“She was running away from Hybrids” Rhale answered before her.

“Darn Hybrids, I would like to get my hands on those who made them. Were you hurt, lass?”

“No, he saved me just in time” Celia said with a smile while listening to a conversation being had at the table next to them, they were bragging about how they were going to travel to the King's land.

“Do you remember those Hybrids in Auratus? First time I ever saw them” Beard said.

“I remember that you were scared shitless”

“I was not scared!”

“You climbed up a tree if I recall correctly”

Celia strain to hear what they were saying at the other table, they were going with horses and a carriage.

“It was a strategy! I could see them more easily from up there!”

Just then food appeared in front of them and Celia was momentarily distracted by the smell of the warm chicken on her plate.

What were they saying? Something about bringing hay but when were they going to leave? Some of their words were drowned out by Rhale’s and Beards conversation.

“What were you going to do? Throw your knife at them?”

Celia grabbed the cup that had been put in front of her and took a big gulp, happy that she could finally drown her thirst but as soon as she swallowed she started coughing. The contents in the cup was not water and her throat burned badly.

“Ay! Why not, I am a good thrower”

Rhale took the cup from her and handed her another one “Here, this is water” she drank it gratefully.

They all started eating while Rhale and Beard talked about some boar hunt they had been in, apparently they had known each other a long time.

At the other table they were talking about what they were going to do in the King’s land, yes, yes but when?

“Its tusks were as long as swords!”

“Shure they were” Celia could hear the mirth in Rhale’s voice.

As soon as she tasted the chicken she moaned quietly, she had never tasted better food in her life and she ate greedily all the while eavesdropping to the men at the other table.

There! They were meeting up in an hour, if Celia could get away from Rhale then she had a way to the King, well, to his land anyway. They had said that they were bringing hay, maybe she could hide under it?

“I taught him how to hunt you know” Beard told her and she smiled at him, trying to finish her food so that she could excuse herself.

“You taught me?”

Celia found their banter cute and she wished that she could stay and enjoy it but she had made up her mind. She was going to do this, she could do this...

Celia finished her meal and drank the rest of the water, whatever had been in the other cup had made her a bit light headed.

“I’m really tired, you don’t mind if I retire for the night?” Celia asked Rhale and tried to look as innocent as possible, he frowned and told her that he was coming with her.

“No, stay. I’m fine, I’ll be right upstairs and I’ll lock the door behind me, please enjoy your company” she nodded at Beard “It was really nice meeting you Beard”

“You too lass”

Celia hurried away, not giving Rhale a chance to argue with her. As soon as she was by the stairs she turned around and tried to stay out of sight. She waited until people walked out of the bar and hid behind them, hoping that Rhale hadn’t seen her.

Now she just needed to find where those men from the next table had gone.