Chapter 2
For years before meeting Demeus Helena often wondered different life would have been if she had not married Robos. As a young child she often told her friends she would prefer the honor of choosing her own husband rather than having one chosen her but as years passed and her friends began to build homes on Mount Kpamos with their families she started to feel lonely. Some of her friends had even fallen in love with humans and had given up their god powers to live with them. It was forbidden for a god to fall in love with a human, a god could keep a human as a pet since they were mortals and could die but they were never to fall in love with them. In the case where a god realizes that he or she has fallen in love with a human, he would be expected to give up his powers to enjoy bliss with his lover. While all her friends found love she was the only one who couldn’t find any to love her. At a time there had been rumors that some gods were too scared of her strength to marry her but all those rumors had been put to rest when Robos chose her for his own. Now that she was married to him her life was more miserable than ever. She fought hard to gain his attention but nothing she did could make him give up his affairs so after so many years of trying she decided to give up. If Robos could have lovers so could she. So she bought the affection of many Alonis; servants of the Camelorn god of desire Alonis. She discarded companion after companion but after a while, she began to get bored of them. Some of her friends who had given up their powers to be with their lovers often told her of how much affection humans gave, how loving their human lovers were and how easy it was to please them. Right from a young age Helena’s parents had drilled into her that humans were simply tools used by the gods for their own desires, they were not to be respected, neither were they worthy of the loss of one’s powers but as her loneliness grew Helena began to ponder on taking a human lover for herself. As much as she loved the worship and praises offered to her by humans she knew they were fickle creatures ruled by their emotions. She looked down from day to day to see who was worthy to be her pet but found none.She realized that if she wanted to experience humanity in its true form she would have to live with humans as a human. So on that fateful day, she transformed into a human and teleported herself to a different kingdom for fear that she would be recognized by Camelornians. It just happened that the kingdom she teleported herself to was Eyrotia. The salty breeze of the land blew over her as soon as she materialized at the outskirt of the kingdom. She screwed her face up at the vast last that was covered in nothing but gritty sand. The wind was heavy and hot against her hair and face bringing with it the saltiness of the sea that was somewhere in the north where her eyes could not see. She frowned at her ill luck. She squinted her eyes against the hot sun and looked beyond the horizon for any signs of life but there was nothing. With an exasperated breath, she kicked at the hot sand and winced.
Because she transformed into human her powers were shielded but she could still feel them hum in the atmosphere around her. She started to summon her powers in anger at her failure but before she could she heard a loud horn that sounded like a strange battle call. Fascinated by the sound she walked in the direction of the sound, it came from the north where the sea was. Using a bit of her powers she shielded her head from the scorching sun and approached the sound which was already drawing to silence. As she got closer to the sea she started to hear the voices of people speaking a strange language. Using her powers again she opened her ears to the language they spoke. It was a strange melodic language that was so different from Camelorn that she found herself fascinated by it. The salty smell of the sea came closer and closer until the air was thick with it. Strange big flies unlike anything she had ever seen before flew past her and made buzzing noises in her ears and she angrily swatted at them. The sand was now dotted with white crystals that caught the light of the sun and reflected it like shiny diamonds. She was fascinated by these too but continued on. When she came close enough to the sea she stopped short at the sight of the men that worked, pulling a large water vessel to shore, shouting their language back and forth, and laughing in deep, vibrating voices. She was rooted to the ground at the sight of them. It wasn't their activities or their language that shocked her this time it was the very sight of them. Never before had she seen men like this!
Their skin was so dark and shiny with sweat that she swore she would see herself on their bodies if she got closer to them. Unlike some Camelornians, these men were all muscles, some had shiny bald heads as opposed to the thick curls most Camelornians possessed. They wore funny-looking clothes gathered in folds around their waists. These men were tall and their thigh muscles flexed as they moved things wrapped in strange-looking nets from the water vessel to the land and as they walked their muscled bellies flexed. They didn't seem to mind the sun as much as she did, they didn't even seem to mind the fact that sweat dripped off of their bodies as they laughed at the jokes they told while they worked.
So taken in by the sight of these men was she that she didn't realize she had been walking towards the men until they stopped talking and looked with curiosity in her direction.
With burrowed brows one of the men barked,
"Who are you?"
“Who are you?” Helena stood rooted to the ground. The question was a deep growl that sounded like the grunt of an animal. Her lack of response caused the men to look at one another before one of them finally moved to approach her. Survival instincts suddenly caused her to take a step, two steps backward. She almost stumbled but soon she turned around and started to run but she had one gone a short distance before one of the men caught her hand and whirled her around. She struggled against his iron clamp on her wrist but soon realized that struggling was useless since it only hurt her the more. Her wrist was red and she feared it might be bruised. Seeing that there was no escape for her she turned her face away from the men, her heart beating heavily in her chest. “You’re hurting the woman,” someone said. Helena wanted to look. Much as she was scared of what the men would do to her she was still fascinated by the look of them. She was no fool though, s
Helena sat on the sand oblivious to the sweat that dropped from her forehead to her white tunic. She watched while the men worked and as she watched she questioned her decision to wait for the men to finish with what they were doing. What had possessed her to spend more time with them? Was it simply the novelty of meeting people who were so different from the Camelornians or was it the handsome stranger who made her feel things she shouldn’t be feeling? More than once he cast glances her way as though checking to see if she was still there and every time he did that she went weak in the knees. She was grateful to be sitting as she was, it wouldn’t do to let him know that he made her feel dizzy and feminine and foolish. What was it about him anyway, she thought in annoyance.Demeus directed the men on their work. Since the previous night they had sailed into the ocean to fish and to gather salt, the white crystals, from the shore to take back to the village. He cou
Helena once again began the question her decision to follow the men. The son was scorching and her skin itched, the hair on her forehead was wet and many times she had to move it from her face. Sweat poured down her chest and armpits wetting her clothes. She considered finding an excuse to leave the men so she could go back to Mount Kpamos but how was she to do that? Her sight was getting blurry and her head was getting some light she feared she would faint. Contrary to what she felt the men moved on like they could not feel the scorch of the sun and wind. They walked barefooted on the hot sand with quick steps that she was struggling to keep up with. Just when she thought she would faint from sheer exhaustion something cool was placed over her head and a hand was nudging something into hers. She looked up, craning her neck to have a better look, at the white-eyed man who nodded at her as an encouragement to take the canteen he was pressing in her palms. “It is cool
It amazed her that the people of the Eyrotian fisherman village did not treat her any different from them. According to what Ramus told her there were used to seeing merchants of various colors come to the village to trade for salt. The only special treatment she received was from the children who wanted to play with her hair. She let them braid her hair while the women worked all day until the sun began to set. As the sun was going down behind the clouds the smell of cooking filled the air. Spicy aromas filled the air making her mouth water. The men who had gone into their buildings to rest before came outside and sat in chairs made of cane. When the women were done cooking they brought the pots and bowls together and everyone say in a ring to eat. The harmony and communalism with which they lived were foreign to Helena. They dished food in every pot regardless of whose it was. Demeus selected a bowl for her and dished some spicy soup in it. She accepted it with a smile and
Demeus walked the length of the small man-made creek the fishermen used for their water source. Up until today he never had a reason to linger at that creek deep in thought but tonight he did have a reason and that reason was in form of a redheaded, hot-blooded woman that made the blood in his vein run hot. He sat at the bank of the creek with his back towards the village. Everyone was asleep by now and only the sound of the nocturnal insects pierced the night. Usually, he would make a quiet exit during the night whenever he was done assisting the fishermen but this night he didn’t want to leave. What was it about the free-spirited, fire-spitting Helena that made him feel like a young randy god again? For years he vowed never to be affected by any woman again since the one woman he loved gave herself to another god just before their wedding feast. That woman was the goddess of the waters, Oya, known for her full figure, beautiful smooth skin, and tall elegance. He had loved
The wave of teleporting faded slowly and once she could breathe again Helena made her way to her temple which was quiet and almost empty save from a few servants who she knew would be in their chambers or the temple of some other gods. She made her way to her room and realized that she was still holding the package Demeus had given her, heat suffused her cheeks at the thought of him. She started to open the package to see what he packed for her when she tensed. There was a change in the atmosphere. A god was coming. As fast as she could she hid the sack and concealed it with her powers. She had barely finished when the door to her chamber was blown open. Robos. He liked to make an entrance. He filled every corner of the entrance with his huge frame. She swallowed. She was scared of him but she was worried that he knew about her disappearance. “Helena, queen of the gods and the woman who has captured my heart,” he rumbled as he came close to he
Her happiness was short-lived. As soon as the race was over she leaned back in her seat to laugh over the sour defeat of the dragons but caught the sight of a familiar figure from the side of her eyes. It was the figure of Adna, the goddess of excess and as was natural to her, she held a jar of mead in one hand while the other dangled over the shoulder of a very beautiful male Aloni. Adna was a beautiful dark head goddess, willowy and tall but her elegance was destroyed by her love for the mead. She was laughing and staggering drunkenly. She caught sight of Helena and went over to meet her. The Aloni stood behind her as a show of submission as he bowed his head in Helena’s direction. “Your highness,” she spoke in a slur as she dipped to a drunken bow. “I never thought I would see you here Queen Helena.” She flicked something off the Aloni’s shoulder. “I am just coming from Robos’ temple where he…,” The Aloni must have pinched her as a warning because she jumped sligh
“Where are we walking to?” Demeus smiled at the sound of her voice. Some of her fierce spirits had returned since they started walking away from the ocean. He looked behind him and found her frowning at the horizon with impatience furrowing her brows. “You’ll see,” he called back at her. “I don’t want to see, Ramus, tell me where we are going or I swear by the gods I’ll turn around now and go back home.” His lips twitched. Was it bad that he liked her better when she was angry she talkative? Helena waited for a response and when none came doubled her steps and half-ran until she was walking side by side with him. “Well? You’re not trying to abduct me are you?” Demeus chuckled. Woe to the man who tried to abduct this woman, he would find himself either wanting to tie her mouth shut or kiss those lips. And he knew how much he wanted to do the latter which was why he tried avoiding her gaze. “I have a horse,” he said in re