Sacrifice Ch. 07

He seemed to relax slightly...but only slightly. But he needn't have worried, it was indeed a massive basin.

She stood and unpinned her dress at the shoulder, unwrapping the material as she moved across the room to the ante-chamber. She returned seconds later with a much smaller piece of almost translucent cloth in her hand, and wearing nothing except her almost ever present bracelet of amber and the silver serpent about her upper arm.

She reminded herself over and over again that he was blind as she neared the bath, and breathed slowly and deeply in order to calm her nerves and force the threat of a blush from her now very exposed skin. She glanced down at him as she sat directly between him and door. He seemed relatively calm...all things considered. Well...good then, she thought, and adjusted the cloth over her lap...letting it dangle between her legs.

It afforded her the minimum of decency by at least covering her sex, even if the entirety of her leg and hip were exposed for all to see. Not to mention the rest of her. Not that naked women were so shocking here...but she hoped that the unexpected sight of Her in the nude might give them pause...and if she were very lucky, give Thelios an excuse to make them leave. After all, he'd already made it clear he didn't like anyone touching or looking at her, so it would seem perfectly natural for him to overreact.

She looked down, still taking deep calming breaths, then tugged the material a little higher, letting it bunch in a way which obscured at least part of her stomach. She hadn't lost her waist, but there was a swell there that she would rather them not see. Just in case.

She heard voices outside...becoming combative from the sound of it. She took one last breath and steeled herself. She turned so that she was in partial profile and extended her exposed leg slightly, taking advantage of its length and making it appear that much longer. If she had one feature she knew was actually quite nice, it was her legs. A fact confirmed in recent memory. They had been skinny and coltish in her youth, but the length and shape and been complimented by her sisters and friends many times as her body matured. So, there was no reason to waste that fact if she intended to go through with this.

At the same time she raised her arms over her head, and began pulling the pins from her hair, unraveling the knotted braids, and letting the black curls fall around her shoulder. Thelios always seemed to like it like that. She rarely wore it down, except for him...but in that lay its great effect. If it had an effect, that is.

Who knew how her gamble would unfold.

She gasped softly in natural surprise when the door flung open, pulling her from her immediate thoughts. She remembered herself enough to keep from starting or covering herself.

She schooled herself, stretching languidly with pins still in hand, and turned her eyes to the door, earnestly hoping there would be no one there but her master. She tried to keep her voice mild and fearless. "If it please you my Lord, I've-"

She cut herself off and blushed hotly as her gaze met that of the Host, who now stood before her, and only a few paces away. She did not have to feign embarrassment or fear, and froze instinctively, giving him a long eyeful before she wrapped her arms across her chest with another soft gasp.

There was a painfully long moment of silence while the two of them simply stared at each other. She in trepidation, he in obvious surprise...and, she thought, a good deal of curious heat once the surprise began to pass. This was not at all what he had expected to see, clearly, but now that he was here he didn't seem anxious to leave. Lady Nagi slid into the room behind him, then paused herself, rearing up a little on her snake part, her brows raising and her mouth twisting into a wicked grin.

There was another awkward pause in which Calliope listened to the thudding of her heart in her chest and felt poignantly the red throb of her blush as it seared her cheeks and throat.

Thelios finally appeared. "Wha--" His growl of irritation was cut off as he to spied her, and his face turned black. Her stomach dropped and she swallowed hard. "Out!" His bellow seemed to make the very air tremble, and she shivered with fear. The others seem no less affected, the Host starting with surprise, then hastily turning and exiting the room, hot on lady Nagi's heels. Or tail, rather.

When they were gone he paced to the bed, snatched up a sheet, and prowled toward her with a growl in his throat and a dark look still plastered firmly on his face. She wasn't afraid, necessarily, but it wasn't an encouraging expression.

She hesitant to say anything, and sat frozen as he leaned in and wrapped the sheet firmly around her, glancing into the bath to see Phineas still laying there, just as frozen as she. He hesitated, still leaning over her, and reached behind her to turn off the tap.

He paused again as he pulled away, his lips brushing her ear. "My clever girl." He whispered against her cheek, then pulled back and turned away, storming off toward the door. The rigid anger apparent in his body hadn't left, nor his threatening aura...so she couldn't help but wonder if she'd only imagined his softly spoken praise.

When the door slammed shut behind him she let out the groan of fear and embarrassment she'd been suppressing and let her flushed face fall into her hands.

She was still sitting like that when the door opened again a few minutes later, though this time it was just Thelios. His face was still hard, but he didn't seem to radiate quite as much intensity as before.

"Come, get dressed." He beckoned to her as she looked up. "We're leaving." He fetched Phineas from the bath as she rose to obey. She watched as he hefted the poor man out by his shoulders, and set him on his feet as if he were a child. He did look sort of child-like next to her master actually...but then most people did. Especially when he was as large as he currently was. She was looking forward to everything being back to normal, and him just being massive rather than literally gigantic all the time.

When she came back, dressed this time, it was just her and the three men. Lady Nagi had gone, perhaps to cover their escape, she mused...or to prepare her own. She stationed herself next to Thelios, wanting, or perhaps needing, the sense of safety his presence usually lent her. Even when he made her nervous, she'd rather be next to him than anyone else—or alone, for that matter.

But that was apparently not to be.

"Take her." He immediately handed her off to Demitri, taking her arm and pressing her forward. She opened her mouth to argue, but thought instantly better of it. She recovered her sense and willingly pressed next to Demitri as his guiding arm came around her waist. After all if she couldn't stay with Thelios, this would most certainly be her next choice.

"Where will you go?" She desperately wanted him to come with them, afraid of what would happen if he confronted his brethren.

"I'll distract them." He must have seen her fear in her eyes. "I'm just going to argue with them," he continued, looking directly at her, "and tell them I'm going to leave. I won't mention you, and will go alone by sea when it's done...hopefully they'll come after me if they're going to so I can lead them away..."

She wasn't comforted by that thought at all. "Come after you?" Her voice rose an octave or two. She felt Demitri's arm tighten around her, and Phineas' hand landed on her shoulder.

Phineas spoke softly, as if fearful she might panic. "Don't worry. Once he's at sea, there will be little they can do. At worst they will delay and distract him. I'll go as well, between the tw—"

"No." Thelios stated firmly, cutting him off. "No." He straightened his shoulders, making him look all the more imposing, and all but impossible to contradict. And who would dare? She wondered with an uncomfortable mixture of consternation and pride.

"But--" Phineas began... falling off when a slow shake of her master's head gave him pause.

"You go with them. If you get away cleanly, then you're welcome to come play, but until then..." She watched them exchange looks, and felt the unspoken subtext deeply, even if she couldn't fathom its meaning.

Phineas straightened as well and nodded, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. All three men were standing in stiff silence, their faces dark and, unless she was mistaken, very determined. She felt as if something important had been decided and agreed upon without her, and unnervingly, that she was somehow at the center of it.

She turned to Demitri with a question in her eyes. He was already looking at her, but only nodded. "Come on then. There's no time for messing about." She wanted to argue again, demand an answer for her unasked question...but something in his own eyes changed her mind. Or rather, changed her heart. If they were determined to do whatever it was, then she would be to. Or be determined at least to help in whatever way she could.

She nodded firmly, setting her jaw and expression to match theirs, commanding her heart to steel itself and her stomach to leave off its fearful quivering. Now was not the time to be wretched, it was time to act, and she was determined to acquit herself well, both for her own sake and her Lord's.

She shot Thelios a final look as they turned for the door, and felt a pang as she suppressed the urge to run back and throw her arms around him. "Be careful." Was all she said. He nodded and watched them go.

Demitri was good on his word and was surprisingly adept at slipping them through the halls and rooms without being seen. The nature of the halls and rooms shifted dramatically from the gilded, palatial luxury of the main rooms, to the less glamorous and far more functional spaces where the unattractive work of feeding and housing so many went on, to plain, stoney passages which reminded one that they were, for all that gilt and silk, under a mountain...in a cave.

It was only on the last leg that they encountered a problem.

They were slipping out some back passage— part of a system of caves which lead out of the underground palace and left them, she imagined, on the opposite side of the island from where they'd entered— when a painfully familiar voice called out to them.

She turned to see her least favorite person on the blessed green earth marching angrily toward them, his minions in tow. She recognized at least two from the incident with Thelios in the hall. From that day when they'd arrived and which felt as if it hd been ages ago, though it wasn't more than a few weeks.

Oddly she felt far more annoyance than fear at the sight of them. Truly, if it had been anyone else, she might have quailed. However, he inspired far different feelings in her, and whats more her usual irritation with this crude, foolhardy man was being quickly bolstered by the cruel smirk which appeared on his face as he neared them. The fact that his left arm was still in a sling and that he still bore the scratch from when she'd cut him only made it worse. It was hard not to despise him as an idiot. He inspired only derision.

She balled her hands on her hips and faced them fully, letting them come. "Should I count this as lucky coincidence, or are you actually a vengeful harpy, haunting me for some past wrong." She spat sardonically.

"Hold your tongue woman, or I'll cut it from you." He snarled back. His vehemence, and the look on his face concerned her...it bespoke a confidence born of righteousness. "You're harboring a traitor and you'll be punished. Believe you me."

Ah. There was that, wasn't there.

She had no time to respond as the group was already upon them. Demitri had stepped forward to defend her, though he wore no sword. She wondered how he intended to do it. She didn't have to wait long to find out.

The man was beginning to raise his sword arm, and was halfway through another obnoxious declaration when Demitri's fist planted itself squarely in his face. It had been so fast, and so brutally hard that no one had seen it coming until they were looking down at the man as he sprawled on his back before them.

He wasn't moving...no one moved. His fellows were gaping down at his still form, she was gaping at Demitri, and he was staring hard at the other men, as if daring them to take their leader's place.

But the shock passed, and one of the men lunged forward. Demitri seemed to catch him by the arm and turn into him, somehow disarming him and giving him a blow to the middle which bent him in half. A second man had his sword parried away a moment later, and Calliope blinked, jumping to action herself and snatching up the grounded man's sword. She leveled it in front of her, using it to hold two more at arms length and buy Demitri time by watching his back. The men hesitated, eying her warily, but didn't stop completely. She hoped silently that Demitri would be make quick work of the other men. She might be able to avoid getting hit with some grace, but she knew nothing of real sword play.

"That will be enough of that." Murmured a soft voice from behind them. She and all the rest turned as one, and gasped. Phineas was standing there, his eyes glowing with eerie white light. His hands, held palm up at his sides, seemed to glow with similar light. "Calliope, Demitri, step behind me please."

His voice was so even, so soft, but she didn't think she'd ever moved so fast to obey a request or command in her life.

"Take her. Go." He said, just as softly. Demitri grabbed her by the arm and hauled her to the now visible cavern mouth and toward the almost Stygian darkness of the woods beyond. She tried to turn back to see what had happened, but Demitri's pull on her arm was insistent and she had to pay attention to keep from stumbling as she followed. In the end she saw and heard nothing.

They paused just at the edge of the woods and waited. A few moments later he appeared at the mouth of the tunnel. She pulled from Demitri's now much lighter grip and ran toward him. "Are you all right? What happened?"

He smiled thinly and accepted the arm she gave him when she arrived at his side. "Fine. I'm fine. And nothing happened. Never underestimate the power of a good bluff."

She raised a brow at him, not quite willing to accept such an answer off hand.

"Where to now?" He asked. She decided to bite her tongue and leave it be, it was perhaps better she didn't know.

"Come." She led him to Demitri and together they made their way to the shore.

The moon was high and bright, and washed the shore in her pale light, illuminating two small ships, not much different from those they'd arrived on. A small boat waited on the shore.

"Two ships?" She asked, as they neared the water, hoping that this was not unexpected.

To her relief he nodded. "Got us covered. One way or another." He explained, though somewhat enigmatically. Again...she'd probably rather not know, and decided it was wisdom not to press him further.

They were in the small boat, rowing toward the first of the two ships before anyone spoke again.

"Let's split up then." Phineas suggested, as if responding to some unheard comment, "better odds."

Demitri, unfazed, nodded. "I'll go north. You two go south."

"Wait...we two?" She interrupted, fighting a new surge of fear.

"He can protect you." Demitri explained.

She looked to Phineas who shrugged. "I do have a better chance."

"And what about you? Who's going to protect you?" She asked turning back to Demitri.

"I'm a big boy. I'll manage." Somehow she knew what that meant. Something in her chest tightened, crushing her from the inside.

She glared. "You're lucky I'm pregnant."

He raised a brow. "Why's that?"

"I'd have some choice words for you if I wasn't." She raised a stalling hand when he looked like he was going to start wrangling with her. "I'm not going to fight you on it, but don't think I don't know damn well that you're using yourself as bait. You're heading home aren't you...to draw them away."

His jaw clenched, but he sighed and nodded. She was grateful he didn't bother trying to deny it, but she couldn't help the distress and anger she felt at the confirmation.

Her own jaw clenched. "Damn it. Idiot." She cursed, not sure if it was directed at him or just at the world in general. She lurched forward, throwing her arms around his neck, swallowing back the urge to weep. "Don't die." She whispered fiercely against his neck. He released the oars and wrapped an arm around her back, patting her tentatively.

"I don't intend to, girl."

She pulled away and angrily wiped an errant drop from her cheek. They continued in silence. When Demitri rose to catch the ladder thrown down for him, they exchanged brusque nods. She didn't trust her voice just then...perhaps he didn't either. It was hard to tell with him.

Phineas said nothing as she took over the oars and sent them toward the second ship, praying to no one in particular that they were doing the right thing. An odd thought occurred to her as the little craft finally bumped the larger one and men above called and tossed out a ladder.

Maybe there was someone she should actually be praying to. She leaned along the side of the boat and dipped a hand into the cool, lapping waters as Phineas climbed the ropes and was hauled up.

"Thetis," she whispered, "Silver footed Goddess of the calm sea, Goddess of protection and refuge...protect your child, and this child of his." She placed her hand over her stomach, biting her lip, and watched the little waves flicker with moonlight, her chest sizing almost to the point of pain with a wave of fervent desire, of need.

A voice called to her, and she looked up, half-startled, and felt like a fool. Who was there to hear her after all? If what Thelios has said was true, his mother had withdrawn herself from the world. They were on their own.

With a sigh she rose and gripped the rope ladder, its fibers damp and rough against the palms of her hands. She cast a last look behind her into the glittering waters. Still...

"I would give anything." She whispered, knowing she truly would.

**

Calliope watched the seas. It was pointless. She knew he was probably long gone, and in the opposite direction....but still, she couldn't seem to pull her eyes from it. Or from the other ship for that matter. It wasn't close, and slowly it moved farther away, but it was near enough that she could see the faint figures of men on deck. She wondered if any of the them were Demitri. By this time he would have hauled her below deck and made her sleep, grumbling about staring at the water like an empty headed halfwit. The thought made her smile. It also made her both glad and sorry he was on the other ship.

She liked that Phineas had left her alone to her own devices...but she missed Demitri, and it frightened her to be alone. And she was alone. Phineas had proven pleasant enough...but she had met him only hours ago. She reassured herself that Thelios and Demitri wouldn't have sent her off with him if they didn't think he was trustworthy. Something which had honestly surprised her. After all this, she thought they'd be more circumspect about trusting him, even if they were inclined to. That unexpected trust did nothing to erase her qualms, and nothing at all to sooth the fear she felt for their sakes.

Then again perhaps they were not as trusting as they seemed and simply took the risk in order to get her out of their way. It wasn't as if she could help, and was more likely to just be a nuisance. Still...

She knew she was useless to him, but it was horrible not knowing where Thelios was or if he was safe...and that there was nothing she could do but wait. So she would, and so she did. Waiting and watching in the night. What else was there to do?