Chapter Eight

Aryan

“Tell me, do you want to leave this place?”

My eyes snapped open, and my body tensed, ready for a fight, but when I focused, I realized I wasn’t hanging by my wrists being choked by sand. Instead, I found myself lying in a bed, staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling.

Where the hell am I?

Before I could fully get a sense of my surroundings, I felt something graze my leg. I jumped up, immediately wincing as I felt all my injuries strike me at once. But when I glanced down to see what touched me, I realized it was the hand of a woman.

I could feel my brows pull together as I stared at her. Who the hell are you? I watched her for a moment before it hit me that she wasn’t moving. Oh shit… did I kill her? I was just about to check for a pulse on her neck when she groaned and made herself more comfortable on the side of the bed.

Nope. Not dead.

I took a closer look at her. I could only see the side of her face, but I could tell that she had long black hair that was down to the middle of her back and sandy tan skin—clearly, she was a person that got outside a lot. Her face held no clear expression and judging by the fact that I all but used—what must be—her bed as a trampoline, she was down for the count. Good. This will give me the chance to sneak out of here. Wherever this is.

I ignored the girl to take a look around. Before I could even get out of the bed, I could see her place was tiny, and definitely not in the archaic style of most Arcanum homes. Must be in Curio.

To my right was a window with teal, see-through curtains—revealing that the day was just about to start. To my left was a giant bookshelf filled with what mortals considered ‘the classics.’ Along that same wall was a doorway, and a fireplace with the embers just burning out. There was another doorway to the right that looked like the exit.

I slid off the side of the bed, careful to not wake the girl. As I walked along the floor, I nearly tripped on a bowl with reddish-brown water in it. It forced me to steady myself against the large pillows on the floor. I scolded myself, watching the girl to see if my stomping woke her up. When she didn’t move towards me, I looked down at the bowl, glaring at it. It was then I realized that there wasn’t just a bowl down there, but a dirty rag, and some wrappers from bandages. It took me a minute to put two-and-two together, but finally I understood.

I glanced down at my chest, realizing that dirty rag was what was left of my shirt. She fixed me up? Why?

Intrigued, I turned back around and approached the girl, staring at her harder.

“Do you want to leave this place?” My mind instantly went back to the cage Soren kept me in. That’s right. This girl… saved me? I just vaguely remembered her putting her hands towards me before I passed out. Right… Ugh. And that cowardly snake was with her. I looked around the room but saw no one else. Where the hell is he?

Nothing was quite making sense, but I was curious. How can a mortal have saved me? How could we have gotten away? But more importantly, why is it that I don’t feel any sort of caution around her?

It doesn’t matter. I told myself, heading towards the door. I stopped right before I was going to step outside. I couldn’t help but stare at the woman on the floor. I felt really drawn to her. Damn it. I swore at myself. I can’t just leave after she’s helped me out of that bind. Literally. It wasn’t my way.

With a sigh, I went towards the girl, picking her up carefully. It hurt to bend over. So, I did my best to keep my groans low. She didn’t even stir as I placed her on the bed. I took the chance to take a good look at her face then. “Stay strong, Aryan. I’m coming for you.”

I thought I imagined that, but… maybe, she’s not mortal? A Halfling, maybe?

Watching her, I realized she had long lashes and plump lips—the type that could tempt anyone for a taste. Heh. Maybe that’s how she tricked Ewan into helping her. Gods know that Janus can’t resist the batting eyelashes of a pretty girl.

She was more than pretty. That much I could say for sure. But just because she was beautiful doesn’t mean she’s trustworthy. Still, even though I thought that I yet again found that my guard was down when I was near her. That alone made her more dangerous than Soren or his boulders.

Without warning, a yawn hit me hard. Most of the time, yawns are harmless, but this one left my ribs aching and my body feeling heavy. Maybe I’ll sleep for just a bit longer. I walked onto the other side of the bed—giving caution to the wind as I lied down next to a woman I hardly knew, but who had saved my life.

I thought it would be harder to fall asleep next to a stranger, but I was wrong.

*****

I heard something whistling loudly, waking me up. Ugh… So annoying shut that damn thing— Wait. Where the hell am I?

I sat up hard, and immediately regretted it. I placed a hand on one side of my ribs, suddenly recalling everything that happened. Right. I’m at whatever that woman’s name is.

I looked for her, finding her across the room instead of beside me, where I left her last. She wore a clean t-shirt and shorts and didn’t seem to notice me at all as she went about her business. She was removing a tea kettle away from the fireplace and over to the counter where she was pouring herself a cup. The woman turned around, just putting the cup to her lips when she saw me and jumped. Apparently, the sight of me startled her.

“Ah,” her voice was kind and soothing in that womanly kind of way—it was the type of voice you’d like to listen to all day. “You’re finally awake. I was starting to get worried.”

“Why?” I eyed her suspiciously.

Slowly, she approached me, teacup in hand. “You’ve been asleep for about two days now. I wasn’t sure if my treatment was working, but I’m glad to see that it is.” She smiled, holding the cup out to me. “Tea?”

I glowered at her, not entirely sure what this woman wanted from me.

“There’s nothing wrong with it, if that’s what you’re thinking.” She took a sip out of the cup. “See.”

Still skeptical, I took the tea—my thirst proving more prevalent than my self-preservation. I gulped the hot drink down, feeling more refreshed than I have in a while.

The girl seemed to be holding back some laughter as she said, “You do seem to have a high tolerance for hot things, don’t you? That’s so curious. Why is that?”

I practically shoved the empty teacup back in her hands as I stood up, keeping a bit of distance between us. “Look, I appreciate you helping me out back there, but let’s not pretend that we’re friends.”

Her smile faltered for a moment before returning with a more sympathetic one. “Of course. I’m sorry. I just got ahead of myself. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” She paused, putting the cup in the sink. “I’m glad you seem to be recovering quickly though. I was concerned that your wounds would be more than I could handle. And, truth be told, I wasn’t sure how safe it would be to bring you to a hospital. You were so badly injured, I wasn’t sure if you would be able to keep your glamour up if I brought you out in public.”

Ok, this woman is definitely not a mortal. How the hell does she know I have a glamour? It’s practically undetectable—especially mine.

“Ok, who the hell are you? Are you some sort of Halfling, or something?”

Although, Halflings can’t see past glamours. As far as I know.

“Oh, jeez,” she placed her hand to her head, seeming to shame herself. “How terribly impolite of me. My name is Samara. And truthfully, I’m not sure what a Halfling is. That’s a new one, though. It sounds much more pleasant than witch. Is it like a Janus?”

I stared at her, confused. What is wrong with this girl?

“How the hell do you not know what a Halfling is if you got called a witch?”

She frowned for a second, and it actually succeeded in making me feel bad for harping on her with a million questions. “I’ve lived a very… sheltered life, so to speak. But despite that, it is truly lovely to meet you officially, Aryan.”

I took a slow step towards the door. “How do you know my name?”

“Ewan told me.”

“Right… that coward was with you at Soren’s. Where the hell is he?”

“I sent him away. It was safer that way. And he’s not a coward.” Samara defended him. “Ewan was very brave, helping me to save you.”

I couldn’t help but scoff. “Brave? Yeah, alright. I bet he’s the one that called you a witch, isn’t he? You probably cast some sort of deception over him. How’d you manage to get that spineless Janus to help you, anyway?”

“I said please.”

That actually succeeded in making me laugh, and without thinking, I took a step closer to her. “Please? That’s it?”

She seemed uncomfortable but answered. “Perhaps, it was a little more than that. But does it matter? You’re safe now.”

“Yeah, about that,” I was only about a foot away from her now. She watched me from against the counter, her hunter green eyes curious. “How’d you find out about… my situation?”

She revealed that light-hearted smile again, but her eyes revealed wariness. “I saw you… in my dreams. Sometimes not… And I-I just couldn’t bear to watch what Soren was doing to you. It wasn’t right, but I couldn’t make a move until I knew where you were.” She looked away, fiddling with the hair tie. As she continued, she kept rolling it around her delicate fingertips until it found a home around her wrist. “I was forced to watch your imprisonment until I could come up with some sort of clue to get you out. It presented itself in Ewan, and there you have it.”

There were only a few inches between us now. Our closeness forcing Samara to look up at me. I didn’t want to trust her words, but there was something about her that was familiar. Like I should know her. Besides, she didn’t seem like a liar, but you can never be too sure.

“Alright,” I started, slowly. “Samara, let’s say I believe you. Why are you keeping me here?”

“Keeping you?” she seemed confused. “I’m not keeping you. You’re free to go whenever you wish. I’ll walk you back to the Veil myself, if that makes you feel better.”

So, we are in Curio. I glanced toward the exit. It was open, and the sun was just setting. From the door, there was a good sight of it.

“Well, thanks. I guess.” I grumbled at her, thinking about my next move.

I didn’t want to stay here, but I could feel that my body was not quite ready for travel yet. I had no guarantee how far I would get. And no doubt, by now, Soren has his pebbles looking for me everywhere.

“Aryan,” Samara called.

I didn’t look at her, my attention still focused outdoors. “Yeah?” I asked, absent-mindedly.

“Why did Soren capture you? From what I could tell he thought you had answers for him, but… what was his question?”

Before I could grill her about why she wanted to know, I suddenly smelled fire. It was probably half a mile away but approaching fast. “Are you expecting someone?”

Samara’s brows pulled together, puzzled. “No,” she shook her head. “I don’t get visitors.”

“Shit…” I grumbled. “We gotta go.”

Before she could protest, I grabbed her arm and ran right out the door with her—straight into the nearby woods.