Blood Memories [Last of Elves book 1] (NaNoWriMo 2014)

Twenty-One: Panthera

Panthera

They crossed paths that night in one of the passageways, he on the way to his rooms, she on her way to where, he didn’t know. He didn’t care, either.

But she stopped him, her eyes strangely soft in the flickering light.

“Panthera.”

He made no answer, instead moving her out of the way as a warrior hurried past. She tried again.

“Panthera, please.”

He looked down at her face, for once the emotions open for him to read. “What?” he said roughly.

She sighed. “Will you let me join you tonight?”

A smirk crossed his face as she blushed in embarrassment.

“You fool!”

He grinned and gripped her arm, towing her down the passage. “I assume that you are going to answer my question then.”

She didn’t reply, too busy trying to keep up with him. He pushed her inside, closing the door, and immediately moved to the balcony, yearning for the cool night air.

“What do you want with me?” she demanded, finally finding her voice. He didn’t even give her a look.

“Listen to yourself,” he said scornfully. “You don’t even know what you want.”

“Arrogant!” she snapped, stalking over to stand next to him, her back stiff with pride. “You think you know me?”

He glared at her, narrowing his eyes. “I know much more than you think,” he hissed  dangerously. “Do not underestimate me, priestess.”

She lifted her chin, refusing to back down. “I am not a coward.”

“No?” He faced her, turning his body to hers. “Yet you have not once asked me any of the questions I see in your eyes. You haven’t tried to do anything. Coward.”

It stung her. He saw the hurt in her eyes the second before she suppressed it, hiding it as she did all her emotions. “You don’t know anything about me.”

He moved closer, only a hair’s breadth away from her. “You yearn for the city,” he said softly, his voice somehow much more threatening when it wasn’t raised. “You wish to give up the link to your precious goddess. You want to return to the life you had once known.”

She recoiled away from him, her breathing quick and shallow, staring at him in shock. “You can’t know that,” she whispered.

He just watched her, holding his tongue.

“How can you know that?” she demanded. “No one knows who I am.”

He took a step towards her. “I’ve been here a long time, priestess,” he answered softly. “You don’t remember, do you?”

She shook her head, shaking, backing away from him. “No. Who are you? I don’t understand. What are you talking about?”

He followed her to the wall, where she couldn’t go any further, boxed in on all sides. She stared up at him, fear and shock making her eyes big in her face. He caught her chin, lifting her head slightly.

“You fear what the goddess asks of you, don’t you?”

She swallowed. “I don’t know what you mean.”

He snorted in disbelief. “Yes you do. You fear what the old ones have said. You fear that the land will be destroyed.”

She appeared to stop breathing, and he let go of her.

“Breathe.”

She took a breath, and he took a tiny step back. “Tell me I am wrong,” he challenged.

She shook her head, a tear falling down her cheek. “I … can’t,” she whispered. “It’s true.”

Satisfaction filled him, and he reached out to take her chin, lifting it so that she could meet his eyes. “Yet you stay here.”

“I have no choice!” she snapped, and then covered her mouth, horrified. He smiled slightly.

“It seems we are in the same situation, then …” He paused, and stepped closer, running his free hand through her hair, sending the pins flying and the golden chain clattering to the floor. “Naameh.”