That next morning, both were awakened by the chimes clattering by the entrance.
Standing, Ev began to stretch out from his upright position. When he looked towards Sabele, he could see her figure moving about the small space. Then, he realized she was changing and quickly averted his gaze. To keep his mind off the woman changing just a curtain away from him, Ev decided to start the fire.
Using his power, he began a small flame and watched it grow larger and larger under his careful supervision. Once enough to light the room, he turned to replace his armor. A gasp sounded behind him and when he turned, he saw Sabele covering her eyes with her hand.
He never had that reaction before.
"I'm sorry. I didn't realize. I'll just be in there," she stumbled over her words and pointed in the direction of the storeroom before she ducked under the beaded strings that obscured anyone from viewing inside.
Evåinic blinked for a moment before he chuckled. While he had received interesting reactions to his backside, he never got one like that. Sabele would definitely be interesting to guard.
"You don't have to scurry around me, priestess. I'm just putting on armor." When he received no response, he assumed she went into the spring. Once dressed, he waited a few minutes before her head poked out to look at him.
"Are you staying here or accompanying me?" Once fully in view, he got to look over her simple, tanned, long pants with a short sleeve top that had fur sticking out of the collar.
She had a jacket in hand that seemed too big for her. Certainly not made for someone her size. Perhaps a hand-down? Her gloves were of the same tan color that stopped just before the elbow.
Dressed for hunting.
"Accompanying you, of course," he stood then, prepared to follow her wherever. "I do have a question which you don't have to answer," when she gave nothing in response he continued, "do you bathe before you hunt or after you hunt?"
"Neither." Despite her response being hesitant, she responded much to his delight.
"Neither?"
"I either bathe or I hunt. I have no time for both." She gripped her bow tightly before she moved to leave.
At least that explained what she had been doing. Changing. But not bathing...
"I don't mean to upset you, Sabele. I just want to understand." He jogged up beside her and kept up easily with her long and hurried strides. They went off the beaten trail and through the forest.
"I don't have time for both. Can we please drop this discussion?"
"Why don't you have time for both? I just want to know." She took a sharp turn to her left and he almost slipped trying to keep up with her.
"I have a busy schedule. I either hunt or bathe in the morning, then I'll deal with preserving food, cooking, potions, herb collecting, summonings, dealing with other issues, and having personal projects like clothes and such. I'm busy from sunrise to sunset and by night I'm too exhausted. I'd probably fall asleep and drown." Puffs of air blew from her face and she stopped to look at him.
"See?" He smiled warmly at her as he continued, "I understand better now. What can I do to help?"
She seemed indecisive about letting him help but finally, he got her to let him check on the traps while she checked out a meadow just beyond the dome.
"Holler if you need anything and Sabele," he grabbed her elbow and pulled her close, "if you feel nervous or afraid for any reason. I mean any reason. A gut feeling, feeling of being watched, or just that strange tingle down your spine, you come running back to where I am and tell me, okay?" She nodded, feeling scared already by his words. It was like he knew or was just expecting something to happen.
They reconvened just an hour later. Her traps had caught two rabbits, one for her and one for him. No deer had passed through the meadow going up or down the mountainside, a huge bummer for her. Evåinic helped skin the rabbits and to preserve the meat as well as store the rest of it in a small basket.
"What do you usually do now?"
"I'll be working in the back until someone comes around," with those words, she left him to sit by the fire.
Sabele remained high strung and nervous around his presence, he could practically smell it in the air. Perhaps it came from the fact she wasn't sure how to act around him. He wanted her to treat him just like any other person but he was still a demigod and her being a priestess she felt she had her duty to be polite and respectful to him.
That was the obstacle. Him being what he is and her being what she is. He would change his appearance but it wouldn’t change how she acted around him. Most of the time they had to hide in some form of disguise or they'd never really be able to enjoy the human life that surrounded them. Here, they never had to disguise themselves.
"Um... Sabele? Why do you wear the clothes you wore yesterday? It's freezing up here," gently he brushed aside the beads and leaned against the wall.
"They are my priestess robes." She continued to weave the rope together at a steady pace.
"Priestess robes? What do you mean?"
Stopping, she sighed and spoke lowly, "I have to wear those robes all the time but I chose to just wear them when guests arrive or else I would freeze."
"But, they're so revealing..."
"Perhaps but the point was to freeze me out, Evåinic," she resumed her work then. The discussion closed and he didn't bring it up again.
"Can I explore a bit? I won't enter your room or anything." She nodded and he passed her to squeeze into the narrow pathway to the spring to check out what the others had vaguely mentioned before.
He walked around her home and even jogged along the path leading to the town before he turned and headed back.
Upon returning, his stomach rumbled, hungry for lunch but he didn't have to ask what he already knew. Sabele couldn't afford to eat lunch, she just rarely brought in that much meat. With two people to feed, she would cut back on even more of her rations just to feed him and not utter a single complaint.
"Sabele?" She breathed a heavy sigh, he was getting on her nerves.
"Yes?"
"Come into town with me."
She sighed again, "I'm not welcomed there."
"You'll be with me. Nobody will even know you're gone to begin with. Plus, we can get food and some lunch." Evåinic held his hand out for her, his cloak already snapped into place.
"I don't have any money," she refused his hand and strode past him.
"I do. It'll take us an hour at most."
"Why?"
"Aren't you hungry?" Now, he was confused.
Surely, she had to be hungry from the very little she eats on a daily basis. The day before, he noticed her ribs protruding from her sides. She was too skinny to be healthy. He couldn't have her dying of hunger on him now.
"That's not what I meant. Why are you doing this? Why not just sit there quietly and wait for danger to show up? Why bother to ask me questions you probably already know?" Sabele didn't understand. The gods always did small chat with her and were kind but never this... pushy.
"Do you want me to sit there in silence? I'm not going around to others to try to figure you out. I'm asking you these questions because they're about you and no, I don't know everything. I've never spoken to you before now and everything I know about you is told to me from someone else. I lived my human life, Sabele. I understand hardship and as long as I'm here I might as well help you through yours," again he stretched his hand out again but this time she slapped it away. Then, her face paled slightly at what she had done.
"Everyone who's remotely tried to help me ended up dead. Just stop trying so hard, Evåinic. I doubt you'll be here long," she clutched the curtain to her bedroom behind her, her body shaking. With rage? Fright? He couldn’t tell.
"I'll be here as long as you're in danger. I'm not going to end up dead, Sabele. There's very little those townspeople could actually do to hurt me. It's why I was sent in the first place," this time, he didn't take no for an answer. He grabbed her by the elbow and crushed her smaller form to him in a tight embrace.
Is this what his mother had been talking about for years? The reason why she came back in tears after meeting her for the first time? This tightness in his chest just wouldn’t let up.
"I've been in danger. I'll be completely fine," her mumbled words caused her chilled breath to wash over his exposed neck. Goosebumps lined his body and he fought against a shiver.
"Not like this. You might not survive this but I'm here to guarantee you do," he held her like that, letting her breath torture his skin for a moment longer before he released her.
"You can go. I'm going back to work on the rope," turning from him, Sabele dashed back into the storage room to complete her work.
Silence hung over Evåinic before he flashed himself to a small alleyway in town. Going into the busy market, he bought some fruits and a fresh fish that had been caught that morning. Flashing himself back into the cave, he brought the fruit to Sabele. She was shocked initially by the offering. Evåinic started the fire up again since it had died sometime that morning and Sabele cooked the fish for them.
Having lunch was strange but her tummy couldn't have been happier. Sabele went back to the rope after that and Evåinic silently sat by her side. He seemed more content to do so, respecting her unheard plea for peace. When dinner came around, Sabele made a stew large enough for him to have his fill but he noticed she only ate half a bowl.
"Eat, Sabele. There's no reason not to," he held out the rest of his bowl. He, at one point in his life, had been a soldier for a losing team and a mercenary hired to fail, he would live without the bit of extra food.
"Can't you just leave me be? I'm fine cutting back.” She pushed the bowl back towards him and this time he picked it up.
"Fine. If you don't eat, I'll just have to feed you," he scooped up a spoon full of the stew and held it to her mouth. She refused to open. "Open or I'll make you open." Sabele thought about that for a moment before hesitantly she reached for the spoon only for him to keep it out of reach.
"Teasing me are you?" Her cheeks puffed out in annoyance but he just grinned and brought the spoon back to her lips. She blushed as she opened her mouth and allowed him to feed her.
"See? That wasn't so hard." A grin lit his face and Sabele found herself staring longer than she had intended to.
Clearing her throat, she stood and began to put everything away. It was when she was putting away a book on the bookshelf that Evåinic came up with a curious question. One that needed an answer.
"Sabele... Do you know how to read those books?" She tensed slightly before she shoved the book back in place.
"No." Her tone was curt and sharp. Clearly, she didn't want to talk about it.
"Then how do you know how to treat people?"
"The priestess told me everything I needed and I wrote them down in a notebook," again, her tone stung like a whip.
Standing up, he walked until he towered above her. Pressing the palm of his hand to her forehead, his hand glowed until she hissed in pain, a stabbing sensation cut across her forehead and burned her eyes. Grabbing a book, he opened a random page and handed it to her. She gasped.
"I-I can understand this!" She flipped the pages and read another paragraph with her smile growing wider and wider with every word, every sentence she understood.
Laughing, she spun around and held the book close to her chest, afraid to let go.
"Now you can read the language of the gods," she was like a child, he noted.
A child who received the best gift for her birthday. Sabele hugged him tightly, laughing all the while. Ev wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back gently. He was glad to have helped her.
Pulling away, she blushed slightly and removed a strand of hair from her face in slight embarrassment.
"Thank you and goodnight, Evåinic." She closed the curtain behind her, taking the book with her, and leaving him with the fire.
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