When Elio leaves, it's as though a god himself has vacated the encampment. Everyone goes back to their work with an air of solemnity, as though they have just left the temple. We go to the carts where our fathers sent our equipment and rations.
"Did that just happen?" Ryu asks me.
I shake my head. "I'm not certain either."
It takes a half hour to locate our belongings, having to stop to relieve ourselves as Ryu had done some unsanctified drinking the night before. When we reach the carts, they've been overturned and painted over in what fortuitously appears to be mud and not the mule-based alternative, at least, hopefully. All our cases are written over with the scrawl of a thug, "bitch" and "bastard" seem to be a favorite alongside the names that make Ryu blush with hidden shame. A few "invitations" even make me gag.
"It is a gift from Alef." I say, lifting one of the cases of my clothing to have it fall out, torn to shreds with a blade. "What a charmer."
Ryu sighs, sifting through glass beads spilling out into the dirt. "And it's not like we can report him to anybody. He is the law in this encampment."
I glance knowingly at Ryu. "There's always the prince."
Ryu coughs so hard that he looks like he's struck with some dire plague. "I'm afraid I don't catch your meaning."
I shrug, smiling still. Ryu looks adorable when he's flustered. "So, there was something there between the two of you."
"Nonsense," Ryu waves it away, "If the prince were to give me special favors, you know how bad that would look. Then I might as well join my father's harem considering what I'd be labeled, or worse, stoned to death. And besides, you saw that harem."
"Appearances, appearances," I walk over to the front of the cart. Even the mules have been stolen from them, probably added to Alef's retinue. "Take away their appearances, and all you have is the skeleton of a man."
Ryu kicks at what appears to have once been a tent. "And you? Do you not put on appearances?"
I brush myself off, sighing at the wreckage. "It's lucky I'm a woman. We are our appearances in this world. We're as inseparable as the gods from their war."
***
Hello my Champions!
On a scale of one to SMITE HIM WITH FIRE, who hates Alef?
Best!
Sophia
YOU ARE READING
A Priestess for the Blind God (Legends of Rahasia Book 1)
Fantasy"The Blind God walks around me, and I feel my mind prodded again like it was in the cavern, a spider weaving a tangled web. "Would you do anything to be remembered, Ode, even play a villain, the one who rises against the Chosen One?" In answer, I dr...
