Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 161535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 538(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 161535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 538(@300wpm)
She scoots a little closer to me, ready to gossip. “Aye. Terrifying, isn’t he?”
Is he? I think he’s beautiful, but of course I’m biased. I know him well. I know that when his mouth flattens like it is right now, he’s struggling to stay focused because of his apathy. I know that his sleepy-seeming eyes hide a quick mind and he’s watching the entire area, trying to assess threats to us. His nonchalance isn’t an act, but he can be kind…if pushed. Mostly, I just know him well enough to love him despite all his flaws. “He’s different than I expected,” I lie. That feels like a safe thing to say aloud. “Prettier.”
The woman huffs. “All the gods are beautiful, I imagine. That’s what makes them so terrifying. That they can be things of such perfection and yet so cruel and unfeeling to us mortals.”
Point taken. I polish off my breakfast as I devour Kalos with my gaze from afar.
The woman continues to offer tidbits of gossip to me as we wait, finding a supposed priestess of Belara the perfect captive audience. I watch Kalos as the crowd grows and grows, until hundreds are gathered in the square. The sight of all the people flocking here fills me with relief, because it’s far easier to hide amongst a thousand faces than it is among ten. As the crowd grows, more priests arrive. They wear different colored robes, but all of them bring offerings to Kalos and set them at his feet. There are gifts of cheeses, flowers, trays of food, jewels, and a farmer brings up a small goat.
Only the goat gets Kalos’s attention. He sits up at the sight of it and gestures that the man should approach. “Bring it to me.”
The baffled man does, and Kalos enfolds the goat in his arms, scratching the chin as if it’s totally normal for a god to cradle a goat in his lap.
Food vendors walk through the crowd, a man with bread loaves spiked on a pole calls out to people to sell his wares. The smell of cooked sausage fills the air, and my stomach grumbles a protest. Now that I’m feeling a little better due to my proximity to Kalos, my hunger is returning. I try to ignore it, but my mouth waters every time someone strolls past with a snack in hand.
The woman at my side crosses her arms and eyes Kalos, who hasn’t moved from his makeshift throne. “I’ve got laundry back home. I should be going if he’s just going to sit there all day. You think he’s waiting for something?”
I shrug and pretend not to know. “Who can know what the gods have planned?”
“Spoken like a true priestess.” She gives me a rueful smile.
The man in front of us turns around, obviously listening in on our conversation. “Maybe he’s waiting for the others.”
“Others?” I ask politely.
He nods. “Heard that other Aspects are coming to Narshire too. They’re all gonna meet up and have an orgy.” The farmer grins, showing a gap between his front teeth. “Happened in Aventine, I heard.”
I wrinkle my nose with disapproval. The rumors are more than slightly ridiculous. An orgy? Really? This isn’t the most insane rumor I’ve heard, but it also makes me worry that maybe everything we’ve been hearing is nothing more than wild gossip. Maybe the other Kalos isn’t coming after all. Maybe it’s all lies and nonsense and we’re out here for nothing. I can’t feel the nearness of the other Aspect like Kalos can. I’m in the dark.
I make small talk with the others standing around, and one generous soul buys sausages for our entire group. I could kiss him for that, and I devour mine and lick grease off my fingers. Kalos remains on his throne, his eyes heavily lidded as if he’s about to doze off, but he continues to pet the now-sleeping goat in his lap. He hasn’t looked in my direction again, but I know he knows I’m still here.
“Make way,” a man bellows from a distance. A bell rings. I can’t see him, but I can hear him call out. “Make way for the gods!”
Someone nearby gasps. “It’s true! They’re here!”
The crowd starts disappearing, and it takes a moment before I realize the crowd really isn’t going anywhere—they’re simply falling to their knees. I can see the bell-ringer approach. He wears a tall, conical hat covered in golden tassels and an equally long tabard over his dark robes. Behind him walk a couple of standard-bearers, one carrying a tall banner with Kalos’s symbol. The other banner is a symbol of a red flower, and that must be Belara’s standard.
They’ve come here together. Well…that was not part of the plan. Shit.
I stare, eyes wide, as two mounted figures approach. Each one is riding upon a lumbering woale. It moves slowly and steadily forward, the head and back of it covered with tasseled tapestries. Riding atop the one on the left is a woman and on the right is Kalos.