Self-love, Self Obsession and Self Destruction

Torin grins at me as Aerro walks up behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder. His eyes flicker for a moment, before they become hard and serious.

Aerro nods his greeting to Torin and says, “I need to steal Cal for a little.”

Torin shrugs. “Sure. It’s not like we were doing anything important.”

Aerro focuses on Torin for a second before saying, “You’re lying, but whatever.” He grabs my arm to pull me out of my sitting position, but I resist.

“No. We were talking about something urgent. You can wait.” I really don't mind leaving, but I have no idea what Aerro wants.

He growls and says, “I don’t care how important it is, you need to come with me.”

“Do you ever not get your way?”

Aerro says nothing, yanking me out of my seat. “We’re going.”

I almost whine, but I don’t want to sound childish. After all, I’ve spent so long convincing Aerro I’m mature enough to leave the property. I can’t prove him wrong now. I still don't understand why he never let me leave. I'm the same age as him.

When we get outside Torin’s room, the door shut behind us, I scowl at Aerro. “What could you possibly need me for that you had to take me away from him?” Not that I care. I would leave almost anything to go somewhere with Aerro. And not just because I like him. All my duties these day are boring, sometimes even talking with Torin.

Silence. Then, “I’ll tell you when we get there.”

“Where’s there?”

“The Fountain of Callix.”

“Why there? Of all the places you could pick-”

He snarls at me. “I didn’t pick it.”

I throw up my hands, exasperated. “Well then why in all of Fenhold are we going there?”

“To listen.” He grips my arm and twists me towards him, his eyes wide and pleading. “Promise me you’ll stay quiet.”

I meet his eyes, grinning.

“I’m serious, if they hear us…“ He looks scared,- is scared; I can smell it on him- which is a rare occurrence for him. It makes him more attractive.

“Who’s ‘they’ and why are we doing this anyway?”

He stops me before the large archway leading out to the garden. “Please, just stay quiet.”

“Fine, but when we get back, you have to explain this.”

He nods and quietly says, “I will.” He leads me through the curling arch and tugs me down behind the fountain where we can see whoever enters, but they can’t see us. The water spritzes my face, but I don’t wipe it off as I take in the garden. Rows and rows of vivid flowers, divided by the occasional statue or fountain. The scent of honeysuckle floats past my nose, covering the rusty metal stench wafting from the bottom of Callix.

“No one’s even here,” I whisper. No one besides the bees and butterflies buzzing about. One lands on my fingertip; gold and navy with intricate white swirls.

“Just wait. And no more talking.”

My ears perk up and I hear at least four sets of footsteps, about 300 feet away. “Who is that?”

“Who is who?” I feel the butterfly leave, probably disappointed my finger doesn't taste like the sweet nectar the flowers surrounding me are producing.

“The people walking towards us.”

Aerro turns his head in every direction before saying, “No one’s walking towards us.”

“Can’t you hear them?”

He tilts his head to the archway for a moment, then shakes his head. “No.”

“I swear they-” Aerro clamps a hand over my mouth.

“I hear them now.” His breath tickles the inside of my ear, and I arch my neck. It’s an oddly intimate moment; my back against his chest, his head hovering above my shoulder, until I hear the men stomp into the fountain room and begin talking. We both turn to peer around the fountain at them.

“So about the border…” one of them says.

“The King’s looking into it. They say the Prince is gonna fight, too.”

“Has he even fought in a battle before?”

The men shuffle around until they each settle against a group of statues. There are three of them, all in guard uniforms; dark green with the royal gold emblem. I tense against Aerro.

What are they doing here?

“I don’t know. He better train if he hasn’t. We’ve never seen ones like this before.” The guard leaning on the statue of Eira shifts and almost makes eye contact with me.

I dig my fingers into Aerro’s arm and whisper, “Can’t you make us invisible?”

I feel him shake his head as he says, “No.”

I sigh quietly and focus back on the guards who are now whispering.

“What are they saying?” Aerro says.

“…don't even know what powers they have…”

“I think… something about not knowing what powers they have?”

“What powers who have?”

I lean my head closer to the men. I can smell them from here. Old leather and the dungeons. The old, creaky dungeons. The thought of them makes me shudder. I only visited once, but…

“Cal. Cal. Calypso!" Aerro shakes my shoulders.

I blush, wishing he would leave his hands there. “Sorry. I-"

The guard propped up on Eira starts speaking. “The walls won’t hold them off much longer. They better be ready to fight.” Worry flashes across the guard’s face as he speaks again. “Do you… do you think they’ll send us?”

Another guard pipes up. “Kaen, our powers are basically nonexistent compared to the King and his army’s. I doubt they would make us fight. Unless something goes wrong. Which nothing should,” he quickly adds when Kaen’s eyes go wide.

“What are they saying,” Aerro repeats.

“Why did you come if you can’t hear what they’re saying?”

“That’s why I brought you.”

I almost laugh. “Are you using me and my powers?”

He feigns hurt. “I- no. Never.” He sucks in a breath and pulls me closer to him.

“What-”

He hisses as me to be quiet right as one of the guards shoves off the pillar he was leaning on and walk towards us. I stifle a yelp as Aerro’s dagger digs into my side. I’m practically on his lap now.

“I swear I heard voices over here.” It’s Kaen. He stops right in front of us, and I know Aerro must have made us invisible. What a useful power. Plus, he can tell when people are lying. I’ve always been jealous. I mean, sure mine’s great and all, especially when you don’t even need to stand outside someone’s door to eavesdrop, but if you were invisible, you could be in the room with them. There was this one time, I was going to meet with my friend, Amoret, but she hadn’t shown up. I was on my way to her room when I heard a noise coming from inside. So, I listened in, and, let’s just say she wasn’t alone. I don’t think I would have needed my powers to hear her, though.

“Kaen, it’s probably just some birds,” one of the other guards says.

“Do birds talk?” Kaen retorts.

“Well, with the big war coming up, maybe the King’s making something.”

Kaen snorts. “No way he could make birds that talk.”

“Hey. Watch what you say. You never know-”

A scream pierces through the air. The guards all whip their heads around, but I’m the first to spot it.

“Gods above and on earth, she’s alive,” I say. Aerro must notice, too, because I can practically hear his jaw drop. He doesn’t even scold me for talking; everyone, the guards, us, the passing servants, even the insects seem to be frozen. There, on a slab of granite in an outdated but still stylish white dress, stands Eira, flesh and bone; goddess of self-love, self obsession, and self destruction.