Bound to the battle god

33

We start moving again, and head through the dark hills, avoiding the thickest parts of the trees and underbrush. There's a wide path along this way, but we avoid it for obvious reasons, opting instead to go cross-country. I climb rocky slopes and avoid bushes the best I can in the darkness, but I eventually start to stumble and I'm relieved when we run across a small, bubbling stream that cuts through the woods and Aron suggests we stop here.

I move to the bank and wash my face, doing my best not to think about e. coli or giardia or any other parasite that might be in a wilderness stream. It can't be worse than what I was wading through back in the sewers, after all. Once my face is clean, I realize just how nasty the rest of my clothing is, and immediately start stripping layers off so I can wash them. I wade into the water to my hips and begin to scrub. My cloak, my leggings, and the hem of my long tunic are all encrusted in filth, and they're going to be clean before I put them on again, damn it.

"Once you're done with those, wash mine," Aron says.

I look up and he's stripping his clothes off, getting absolutely naked in front of me. He's all pale glory and scars, and I swallow hard, averting my eyes. I am not going to creep on him. Not at all. I'm certainly not going to think about that evening at Tadekha's Citadel when I was all over him and his hands were between my thighs. No siree. "How about you get in here and wash them yourself?"

"You are my servant, remember?"

"Answer's still no. You need me alive, remember? We're equals as far as I'm concerned."

He gives an arrogant little huff of a laugh that I choose to ignore. When he tosses his clothes down at me, I immediately wad them up and toss them back at him, which makes Aron laugh. "I like your spirit, little mortal."

"Good, because you're go

"And draw attention to ourselves? Should we just go lie in the road, spread eagle, and wait for them to step upon us—"

"A simple 'no' would suffice," I tell him, interrupting. "You don't have to be such a dick every time I say something, you know." But I know that's who he is. He's arrogance incarnate. I just have to remind myself of that. "Enjoy washing your own clothes," I say pointedly, and huddle on the banks.

He just smirks at me as if I'm a constant source of amusement and wades into the water, groin-high. Of course, that calls a lot of attention to his godly equipment, and I pointedly avoid looking in that direction as he half-heartedly swipes at his clothing in the water. "Fear not, Faith. The sun will be up soon enough and I will keep you warm until then."

"Goody."

Aron continues on. "We will journey to the next town and get a map and mounts for the next leg of our trip. I imagine that the Spidae's tower will not be anywhere near the mortal lands, so we must prepare for a long journey." He doesn't sound upset. If anything, he sounds pleased, like this is a road trip and he's having a blast.

I'm glad one of us is having such a good time. Me, I just want to collapse and cry like a child. It seems that every time I turn around, someone's trying to kill us—or just me—and this entire world feels like one big death trap. I want my quiet apartment back home. I want my boring desk job and my boring reruns on television. Did I think my life was humdrum and monotonous? Clearly I was insane. I have a new appreciation for “safe” and “boring” and “quiet.” I'd like any and all of those things.

I should have never visited that fortune teller.

King of Pentacles—a man like a force of nature? Try a god of storms.

A journey about to begin? Fucking understatement of the year.

Lovers? I shiver at the thought. I’m not sure if I hate it or want it so badly I ache.

I give myself a little shake and force myself to concentrate on what Aron’s saying. “A road trip needs lots of preparation, Aron.”

“I know. This is why we need mounts and supplies. Pay attention, Faith.”

"With what money? Unless Omos taught me wrong about your money, we have enough for an i

"We will steal woales if we need to."

“Woales?”

“The large creatures everyone rides upon?”

“The land-hippos? Okay.” I didn’t realize they had a name. Of course they do. “You sure we can’t just buy one?”

“You said yourself we have no money. We steal everything.” Aron thinks for a moment. "Supplies as well. Weapons, too. Might as well get everything we can."

"Are you serious? We're going to thieve our way to visit your buddies in their tower? Don't you think that's against the rules that the big guy set for you? You're supposed to be improving as a person, not turning to a life of crime." I get up and hang my sodden cloak from the nearest branch in the dark.

"Bah. The High Father wishes to purge my flaws, and thievery is not one of them. I am the god of storms and battle. If I ca

"You know what? All of that sounds awful. Let's just go with stealing. Jesus. I never thought that would be the least evil of our choices." I shake my head, hanging the rest of my clothing to dry and then digging through my woefully small bag for something fresh to wear. My cold ass is hanging out and I need something warm to cover me.

Plus, I'm feeling weird being naked around Aron after the bathing. I'm pretty sure he's impassive to human things like lust—well, except for his other Aspect that is nothing but lust—but me, I'm having a hard time figuring out where I stand with him.

"You sound upset, Faith." He wades back to the shore and offers me his wet clothes, as if I should hang them. When I don't take them, he tosses them over my wet clothes on the same branch, as if the problem is solved, and I have to bite back a curse of irritation. "It is a good plan."

"For you, maybe. What about the people you're stealing from?"

He snorts. "If they are anything like Katharn's fools, I should be glad to rid them of their belongings. They need to be taught a lesson or two. What kind of treacherous idiots try to kill a god?"

Apparently a lot of them, since that seems to be the agenda for oh, half the people we meet lately. "If they're like the Katharn people, I won't feel bad about stealing from them," I admit. "But what if they're more like Omos? What if they're moms and dads with kids to feed and we show up and demand their money and horses?"

Aron gives me an incredulous look. "You think I would cripple those that already suffer? What kind of man do you take me for, Faith?"

"An arrogant one?" I shove my arms through the sleeves of my new tunic.

"Arrogance is not selfishness or cruelty," he says, and pulls a tunic out of his pack and then offers it to me. "Wear this. You're still shivering."

I'm surprised—and touched—by his offer. "What about you?"

He shrugs. "I do not feel the cold nearly as much as you do. And we can huddle together for warmth if I do start to feel it. Are you going to sleep now?"

It almost sounds like he wants me to go to sleep. Is it because he's tired of talking? Or because he wants to hold me? I flush at the thought, discarding it from my mind. Probably not that. "Is it safe?"

"Safe enough, and you need to be well-rested for the morrow's journey." He sits, leaning against the trunk of a tree, one arm resting on a thick root as if it's a throne, and I can almost ignore the fact that he's bare-assed in the dirt. He still looks regal and imposing, and when he flicks a hand toward me, indicating I should join him, I do.

I delicately spread his tunic over his lap so I won't snuggle against his naked cock and balls, and then slide against him. "Thanks," I murmur. "Wake me up if we're in danger." I don't think I'm all that tired, but my eyelids grow heavy as he puts his arm around my shoulders.

I don't fall asleep right away, though. There's a rock under my butt, and Aron's shoulder is hard with muscle. Plus, he's started to play with my hair, which is…distracting. I think about our earlier baths. I think about that night in Tadekha's Citadel, too. Man, I really need something new to think about, because creeping on Aron is not going to end anywhere good. He's already shown he's very uninterested.

I yawn.

"Go to sleep," he tells me.

"I'm trying. Quit talking to me."

"I will once you go to sleep."

I poke him in the side and shift against him, doing my best to get comfortable. It's almost too quiet around us, and I didn't realize how noisy the town was until we got out here. It feels u

"Why are you afraid?"

"Well, let me think. We were chased out of town by both an angry torch-wielding mob and a graveyard full of undead. Gosh, I can't imagine what there is to be frightened of."

He pokes my face, an Aron attempt at being playful. "You are here with Aron of the Cleaver. Nothing shall harm you."

"Mmm. How come you're Aron of the Cleaver and I have yet to really see you wield an axe? Or wear an eyepatch?"

"Should I a

"Good point." I settle back down against him. "Will we be safe at the Spidae tower?"

"No."

"You could sugar-coat it for me, just a little."

He continues to toy with my hair. "Why? I will never lie to you. That is another Aspect's job."

Har de har. I shift against him again, not entirely sure where to put my hand. I want to rest it on his chest or his thigh, but that seems a little too intimate. "So why isn't it safe? Is the countryside full of people waiting to kill us, then?"

"Not at all. It is the wildlands." Aron grows thoughtful. "No mortals live there. The mountains are full of foul creatures and ruins of places long overtaken by them. None dare to cross into those lands, so that is why the Spidae are there. They are safe from all those save the most foolhardy of pilgrims."

I shiver, thinking of “foul creatures.” I can only imagine. "So what you're saying is that we shouldn't go there, either."

"It is the place we will get the answers we seek."

“Yay.”

He grunts agreement and pulls me closer to him, tucking fabric over my exposed skin as if to keep me warmer. "It will not be an easy journey. Go to sleep."

I close my eyes obediently. "What do you do while I'm asleep?"

"I think."

"What about?"

"Many, many things."

I poke him again, yawning. "Such as?"