Page 225 of Eldritch
A spray of wine shot out of me, and the woman beside me let out a quiet chuckle as I dragged the back of my hand across my face, remorseful for the errant drops that covered his.
A small smile pulled at his lips as he subtly wiped it away. “I would be incredibly grateful to share a bed with you. To fill your belly with child?—”
“Wait,” I interrupted and cleared my throat. While I didn’t wish to insult him, I had no intention of entertaining his offer. “Thank you,” I said, wearing a sheepish smile.
Brows pulled tight, he gave a nod and, like the others, brushed a small fragment of bone against my arm. As he rose to his feet, he squeezed the bulge between thighs and strode off.
“He is our greatest hunter. Every woman in the village has sought him.” The woman beside me sighed. “I did once.”
“I mean no insult. I’m…matedto another.” As many times as I attempted to acclimate to the word, it still struggled to pass my lips.
“I understand. The warrior who arrived with you. Were I not already bonded to another, I would want to mate with him, as well.” Her comment left me struggling to smile. “Our priestess has assured us that our bloodline will one day be restored. No matter what you choose.”
I was relieved to know that she was suggesting a choice in the matter. I’d fought betrothal before, and I would certainly do it again.
So lost in my thoughts, I didn’t immediately notice Father hobbling his way toward me, until he plopped down on the ground at my side.
The rosy color of his cheeks told me he might’ve had a tad too much wine.
“You seem to have gained much admiration tonight,” he said, waving toward the gifts.
“I’ll admit, I’m not entirely accustomed to this.”
The smile on his face faded, and he stared down into the cup of wine he held against his thigh. “I’m sorry, Maeve. I’m sorry I didn’t do a better job of protecting you from the others.”
My skin prickled with a discomforting chill, as, once again, I swam through a foreign sensation. “Father, you don’t?—”
He patted my shoulder. “Please, allow me to finish. I’ve spent endless hours in that cell, imagining what I’d say to you if I ever saw you again.” His eyes held a shine of tears that had me blinking away my own. “I thought that becoming one of the Red Men would earn us favor in Sacton Crain’s eyes, but it seems he tormented you regardless.”
“It isn’t your fault. He was a cruel man.”
Father nodded, a slight smile on his lips. “I always liked to think, perhaps there are circumstances that made us the way we are. What a cruel god to willingly inflict such torment.” It was strange, hearing Father speak that way about The Red God and I wondered if the wine influenced his thoughts. “For centuries, we’ve condemned Lyverians for their worship of Morsana. We tried to change them, convert them. We feared what they embraced. And yet, Caedes, The Red God, incited bloodshed and war.” Staring off, Father shook his head. “In the end, we were all worshipping death to some degree, only they were far less violent.”
The two of us stared off toward Aleysia, who was still laughing and dancing amongst the other women who’d joined her.
“You were treated as an aberration. The seed of blight.”
I turned to see his jaw quivering as if he fought to hold back tears.
“You were just a child. A child who sought nothing more than love.”
His words, as painful as they were for me to hear, fed my starving heart, and tears broke from my eyes, slipping down my cheeks. Arms wrapped around me, and I rested my head against his shoulder, surrendering myself to the acknowledgment, the validation and acceptance I’d fought so many years to grasp.
Through tears, I caught Aleysia slowing her steps, but seeming to catch sight of us, she smiled and gave a knowing nod, then resumed her dancing.
“This Zevander…do you love him?” The serious tone of Father’s voice failed to hide the lingering emotion in it.
Smiling, I sat upright. “I do.” Strange, how easily I could admit to that at last. “I feel like I’ve loved him all my life.”
Father nodded. “I felt that with Aleysia’s mother, as well. Her death felt like my own.” He lifted his cup for another sip of wine, but hesitated. “You long to return to wherever he came from.”
My chest tightened, not yet having considered how to broach the topic with him and Aleysia. “Well, I …. I’m not sure?—”
“You love him, though. You’re certain about that?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Do you feel safe with him? Comforted and happy?”
