He tipped his head toward her. “Then you might be mistaken. He doesn’t keep slaves. And has no woman that I know of…” He sounded more curious than disbelieving.
“That’s what they keep telling me.” She murmured with a sigh. “What is it you want with him, if I might ask?”
He smiled pleasantly, falling into step with her. “I’m delivering an important message. For his eyes only.” He tilted his head toward her and tapped the side of his nose with a chuckle. She smiled back, though with less sincerity. He seemed pleasant… and harmless… yet there was something strange…
She frowned. “It’s lucky we ran into each other.” she commented, watching his face. He tilted his head slightly toward her as if following the sound of her voice. “Convenient.”
“Indeed. I couldn’t have been more fortunate. Tell me… is Demitri still around?”
“Yes.”
“Ah. Interesting.”
|
|”Why’s that?”
He shrugged. “Like I said… your master… if he is that, isn’t one to keep slaves or servants really. Demitri was the exception… I thought perhaps you were a replacement of some sort. Can’t imagine why he’d need more than one. He was just fine without Demitri for that matter… not that the roughian isn’t excellent company once you get him in the drink. Thelios too for that matter. ” He added, muttering absently to himself.
A comment Demitri had once made about that echoed in her head… something about them not providing the same type of ‘services’. She almost reiterated it out-loud but caught herself with a faint blush. It might be the sort of thing she’d repeat to Thelios or Demitri… or even Penelope for that matter… but not to a stranger. She made an noncommittal sound which might have been agreement, but said nothing more.
He chuckled. She raised a brow at him. “Something amuses you?”
“Oh? Hm. No… just a stray thought is all.”
She still had a creeping feeling something wasn’t quite right, but couldn’t put her finger on it. But then it was an odd scenario, and Hades knew she’d been a jumpy paranoid wreck these last few days, and getting worse… perhaps it was just that. She decided to ignore it. For now.
They had walked a little ways in silence, when he gripped her arm, stilling her. She paused and watched in confusion as he stepped back, keeping them from entering the next corridor and effectively hiding them in a nearby shadow with his movement.
Glancing down the hall she saw a small party pass by. It was headed by the cyclops and another whom she had seen at a distance at some of the dinners she had been party to. The second figure made her even more nervous than the cyclops did. That single, huge eye was unnerving, but this other one was tall and sinewy and covered in dark, greenish scales and his face elongated, his mouth full of sharp looking teeth. He looked caught between an oversized human and one of those giant lizards of the south… and had four arms. She had seen him before, but that didn’t make him any less unnerving.
She shuddered and glanced away, only to notice the blind man was tugging at her arm and pressing his back to the wall so that a nearby statue was blocking him from their sight.
It came to her all at once and she recoiled as if struck.”You’re Phineas aren’t you.” She breathed. She glanced to the hall once more but the group had passed.
He gave a humorless chuckle and stepped forward from the wall. “It took you a while. I thought you’d have figured it out when you noticed I was blind.”
“Wh-why? I mean… no one told me you were blind.”
He raised a brow and tilted his head at an odd angle. “It’s a rather noticeable feature. I have trouble believing no one mentioned it.”
“I guess no one thought to bother mentioning it. I doubt anyone thought I’d need to know.” She stiffened, remembering herself. Then gasped as his hand lashed out to grip her wrist tightly. She wondered if he wasn’t just pretending to be blind. How could he have known they were coming and to hide after all?
She felt something strange… like an… icy burn on her wrist. It wasn’t painful… but it was frightening and she was forced to swallow back a surge of terror. He shook his head. “I wouldn’t. It’s not in your master’s best interests. Believe me.”
She hesitated, her jaw twitching as she considered calling out. Then again, if he was threatening her… she resisted the urge to wrap her arms around her stomach. She remained silent, but glared daggers at him.
As if reading her mind his other hand came down over belly. She started and tried to pull away, only to find his too-cold grip on her wrist was like iron. He didn’t even flinch when she tugged and merely looked off to the side as if seeing something down the hall. Her eyes followed his, but saw nothing.
“I see.” He murmured.
“I don’t.” She growled and tried again to pull away. He let her go this time, his hands falling loosely to his sides. She watched warily, but he seemed suddenly distracted.
“Does he know it’s his?”
Calliope returned the frown he was giving her and set her jaw. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m going to take that as a yes.” He muttered dryly, then sighed. “This may complicate things. You will need to leave. It might not be safe here for you if they find out. Then again it won’t be safe if they don’t either I bet.” He shook his head and grabbed her wrist again. “Come, we must get to him as soon as possible. We mustn’t delay.” He tugged her toward the hall, but she resisted.
“What makes you think I’m going anywhere with you?”
“If you have any interest in keeping Thelios and that child safe you’ll take me to him.”
“Are you threatening me?”
He bowed his head and sighed heavily. “No, my Lady… warning you. It’s not me you need fear.”
She watched his face carefully. He seemed suddenly tired. Or perhaps she simply hadn’t noticed it before. She kept her voice low when she asked, “How did you get here? I thought they were looking for you. Did you not steal something from the gorgons?” She stopped when his face twisted into a pained grimace.
His voice was low and rough. “No. I did not. Though there is no one to speak for me in any case. They… they’re missing… I fear they may be dead.” He turned his face away, but she caught the hard swallow and she felt a sympathetic lump in her own throat.
“My Lord and Lady Nagi will be upset to hear it.” She offered softly after a long pause.
He turned toward her with a curious expression on his face. “Lady Nagi?”
“Um, his sister. The one with the dark skin and the serp-”
“Oh, you mean Lamia? The Snake, right? I’m surprised she’s here, and glad of it… but then I suppose she might be at risk as well. It’s hard to say with her kind. What a mess we find ourselves in.” He shook his head again, as if to clear it. “But please, we should hurry.”