I watched him breathe, slow and steady. The lines of his face were softer, smoothed by sleep, and I caught myself memorizing them - the curve of his lashes, the way his lips part slightly. He looked so unguarded like this, so unaware of me watching. I didn't move, I didn't want to disturb him, I just allowed myself to exist in this quiet moment. Where once sweat and dirt had masked him, now his long dark hair fell in heavy waves down his shoulders, catching the light from the windows like polished silk. The dim light traced the line of his sharp cheekbones and strong jaw, revealing the kind of face I hadn't expected beneath all these battle skills.
Without the mask of blood and dust, there was something startlingly refined in his features, a quiet strength softened by sleep. His long, clean hair spilled carelessly across the pillow, framing him in a way that felt almost too graceful for a warrior. While resting, there was a gentler beauty in him, raw but captivating, as though sleep had stolen away the killer and left only the man.
And he woke up.
"Huh? What?" These were his first words.
"Good morning, Alet!" I smiled and pushed myself up from the floor, brushing off the numbness in my legs. I hadn't realized how long I'd been sitting there, one hand resting on the edge of the mattress, just looking at him.
His eyes blinked open, still heavy with sleep, confused when they found me. I felt a little foolish being caught like that, yet I couldn't help the way my lips curled into another smile.
"I would have sworn yesterday that you might be a god," I said, my voice low. "But seeing you sleep… so human, so ordinary… I think you're not even closely related to the Stars."
"No one ever taught you it's rude to stare at someone sleeping?" he asked, his tone teasing but edged with mild surprise.
"Yes," I admitted. "But he doesn't seem to mind me staring."
"He sounds like a nice guy, I guess," he replied with a shrug, trying to look casual. He lazily ran a hand through his messy bed hair, as if that could fix the disheveled look.
The long, unfamiliar shape of his ears poked through the veil of his hair. I realized I was staringthink at them a little longer than what I intended, tracing the curve of something so distinctly human yet somehow foreign. A sudden cough from him snapped me out of my scrutiny.
"Get ready," I said, stretching lightly. "We are having breakfast downstairs in a bit."
"Could you wait outside the room?"
"No."
I glanced towards the mirror at the far end and crossed to it in quick steps. My reflection stared back, my face, my ears. I brushed my fingertips lightly along their edge before changing their shape. My hair fanned around me with the sudden motion, and I caught the way his eyes widened.
"You can do that?"
"Not every trace of divinity was sealed away in this human body." I simply answered.
"I can imagine…"
I smiled faintly, though inside I knew the truth, what he saw wasn't even a fragment of the fragment of the divinity I still carried. Then the emotions came, unbidden. First a hollow sadness, then a flare of anger, and then sadness again, heavier this time. I could do anything but one thing - shatter this human vessel and return to where I truly belonged. And stop those hideous human emotions.
"I will go downstairs now, the breakfast should be ready."
I felt his eyes on me, following every step until I reached the door. It was a bit creepy, though I have to admit, earlier I was probably a little creepier than he was now.
***
The dining hall smelled of warm bread, eggs and bacon fresh from the pan. I always loved how the chef was preparing the plates with beautiful decorations. Since I was not much into eating at least I was enjoying the ornaments. I sat at the long table, a plate before me, and started a small talk with Onet. After some minutes Alet entered the room.
He moved with a natural grace, shoulders loose despite the sharpness in every line of his body, he didn't have a walk of a warrior like Erzion and I thought that it might be as if they have swapped roles. An emperor and a warrior. Funny.
Onet started moving her chair left and right and eventually decided to pull it even closer to the table. The legs scrape against the floor with a long, loud drag, echoing through the room despite the small adjustment. I looked at her, surprised, because she usually had better manners than that.
"You've been staring," she murmured, voice pitched for my ears alone.
"No, I have been looking at the bread in my plate."
"If bread could look back at you the way he does, I might believe that."
"Are you sure?? He was looking at me??"
I glanced towards Alet again just in time to find his eyes on me.
"He's dangerous," Onet said at last, his tone shifting, quiet but edged. "And he smells weird."
"Erzion also smells weird."
For a moment, silence hung between us, heavy with things neither of us spoke aloud. Then Onet leaned back, folding her arms loosely. "That's not the only thing that worries me."
Onet possessed a special trait that most ordinary people did not have. She could discern someone's supernatural nature by their smell and judge how strong the opponent in front of her was, which I would say was very handy for someone who was currently a half god.
"He can also be in help to understand how to get out of here. So it's worth the shot."
"If you say so."
Onet wouldn't understand, but I also didn't expect from her to see the things through my eyes. She was here to serve me, and I was looking a way to cut my soul connection with Erzion so I can escape from this prison.
"So, Alet!" I turned my head again in his direction, he had already stared eating but I didn't care so I still asked him my question. "Where you come from?"
He swallowed his first bite and answered: "From a far."
I got an answer pretty quick. Not the one I indended, but my next one was more important to me. "Did you came here with someone or you are alone in the city?"
"What is this question even about?"
"Just curious."
He left his fork on the napkin next to his plate and slightly opened his mouth, I was waiting for a reply but sadly his voice was interrupted by the fierce guard entering the hall.
"Miss Vilendra, Your Majesty is waiting for you."
"So early?? I didn't even have a breakfast yet!" I snapped, lacing my words with bitterness.
The guard's face remained the same, emotionless expression staring at me with a dose of annoyance, and coldly replied: "You don't even eat, come on. His Majesty told me to forward his words."
I hate how much this weirdo has gotten used to my reactions. There was a time when I was more rigid and silent, but after all the difficult and disgusting things we went through in our teenage years... that seriousness was forgotten. Usually it's the other way around, but with me, nothing works the usual way.
***
"You said to come here after I am done with Alet!"
"Oh, is that his name?" He teased, leaning closer with a crooked grin like a man convinced he personally invented the wine.
"Stop it." I hissed at him, trying to wriggle free as he tugged playfully at my sleeve.
"At least you got to know his name, I think that's some progress!" He brushed a strand of hair out of my face with infuriating ease and winked at me. Idiot.
"…Wait," he murmured, eyes narrowing with sudden interest. "Are those a bit more pointy?"
I froze, heat crawling up my neck. "Don't."
His grin widened, sharper now, wicked with triumph. "They are pointy. Gods above, you have been trying to hide this! What are you now, some elusive forest elf?"
I swatted his hand away, glaring. "I said stop it."
"Too late," he laughed, leaning back just enough to admire the discovery, smug as though he had just uncovered a national secret. "The mighty Goddess with ears sharper than her tongue, adorable."
"Adorable?" I echoed, my voice dripping venom.
"Yeah! How did you end up with those?"
"I… I saw them from the warrior this morning," I admitted softly, fingers twitching towards my hair as if to cover them again.
For a few seconds, silence hung between us, heavy but comforting. Relief washed over me as finally, that awkward, humiliating small talk was behind us. Stepping out into the fresh coolness of the day, I felt the cold wash over me, a welcomed sensation against the overexcitement of his merciless jokes. Just as we reached the tower's door, he spoke again:
"They actually fit you quite well. Good Stars, I could lend you a book for forest creatures so you could do this earlier if I knew you would be interested! But I guess this warrior was useful at least for something. "
Erzion was the only person who could annoy me to this extend. I was unable to read his emotions, his mind, his soul, nothing. But he was always aware of when he could joke with me, how much I could handle and when to still show me that he respected me. I would say that I definitely hate the prison he put me in over a decade ago, but since the incident happened, he has been more considerate and respectful of me.
"What is it this time? The tower's entry hall was quiet, so you probably didn't inform many people," I muttered.
He didn't answer, only gave me that look, the one that said that I should not think of trivial things but just do my job. Then he turned, and I followed.
The prison tower was colder than usual. Our steps echoed off the stone as we entered the Main hall. A line of prisoners already stood there, some trembling, some trying too hard to look calm. They avoided my eyes, but I felt the weight of their fear pressing against me like a tide.
Erzion's voice rang sharp and steady. "You know what to do, Vilendra."
I sighed, but I moved forward, letting my eyes roam over the line. This was my task: to see what others could not. My divinity, even sealed, still gave me a sharp spirit vision. One by one, I looked into their faces, not just at their expressions but into the hollows of their souls.
"This one… guilty," I said for the first person, my voice quiet but final. The man flinched as if I had already sentenced him.
I stepped to the next. "Not guilty." Relief cracked the woman's composure, and she almost collapsed in her chains. The trick was not only to see the past moments in their memories, but also if they believe they are guilty. I could glimpse only a few hours into their past but feel their fear from milion years ago if I had to, and they didn't know that.
Erzion said nothing, only watched. It was always like this, he was sitting on the bench next to the wall oposite the prisoners, watching. His dead father's idea to bring me here was for me to help this kingdom conquer other countries. And I ended up in a house arrest all day long for the past years, just looking at some random people in front of me at time to time while they piss themselves from fear. No no, I am serious. The next person pissed themselves before saying that he is not guilty. Weirdo.
Erzion called some guard to pick him up and since it would start stink, a maid came quickly to clean. I had to wait for her to finish so I could move to the next prisoner.
"Let's see if you going to shit yourself then." I said jokingly, but the man closest to me didn't laugh. Eh, I thought it was a good joke. The man's lips trembled as he opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out, only a dry rasp. "I will take that as a yes." My tone shifted to casual, almost bored.
His knees buckled slightly, and for a moment I thought he might collapse before I even could look in his soul. I sighed. "Pathetic." My gaze fixed on him, and the familiar pull began, the threads of his life unraveling in my vision, the shadows of guilt and innocence rising like smoke around his figure. It was as if I were drawing out a vast fabric, forced to examine every string, one by one, searching for the knot where guilt lay hidden. If no such knot existed, then the fabric was whole, and the person stood in the right.
Sometimes, the threads revealed stories that weighed heavier than any chains. A girl, for instance, who had raised a knife only to shield herself or her sisters, her younger brothers, her friends, from the cruelty of men who thought them weak. In her case, the stain of blood was not guilt but desperation, a cry of survival woven into every strand. And I always will find her innocent.
This man before me, his threads were trembling. Fear seeped through them, but fear was not the same as guilt. I followed the strands deeper, past the surface terror, to where truth waited, silent and bare.
"Guilty." I said finally. Not because of what was the last thing he had done, there he was innocent. But before that... Oh, to be able to hit this man with my own hands, but I never want to get close to this nasty man again.
***
Before I even realized, night had fallen again. I had spent the whole day here, buried in the tower's stale air, sifting through lives like pages of a book I didn't care to read. Faces blurred together after a while, fear, denial, trembling hands, tears staining the stone floor. Some begged, some cursed me, in the end it was always the same.
Erzion was still there, of course, he was checking some documentations for the prisoners I have inspected today. I leaned back, letting my head rest against the cold wall. For a moment I closed my eyes and let the silence press in. The Never Ending Night stretched outside, vast and eternal, and I didn't want to go outside in the cold yet. I knew winter was coming soon, but I kept forgetting to switch to thicker clothes.
"Come on, Vila. We are done for today." He finally finished with his tasks and gave me a sign to follow him outside.
I followed him out, my steps heavy, I was still exhausted from using so much divine power. The corridors of the tower gave way to the open court guarden, and from there I needed only a few minutes walk to the temple.
The moment I stepped inside my glass garder, the air changed. I didn't have the energy to go and inspect Alet at the moment, so I preferred to regain my strenght here. Warmth embraced me, carrying the earthy scent of flowers and... I let myself collapse onto the cushioned bench by the fountain. Beyond the glass, the night spread on, endless and icy-cold, but in here… it was softer. Contained. Did I mentioned that I love this garden? I absolutely adore it here. The only place I can rest peacefuly.
I closed my eyes, breathing in the quiet. For once, I was alone. No more milions of voices that I had to listen from different people, no more dirty heavy air and dust of dirt. I was all alone and-
The door creaked open. Whatever. Light footsteps pattered across the floor, far too cheerful for the hour. I opened one eye to find Yona standing there, his small arms struggling with a plate that held a towering slice of cake.
"Miss Vila!" he whispered loudly, such a weird child. "I brought you something sweet. And… and you have to tell me a story now!"
He marched towards me, determined, his little face flushed with effort and triumph. For the first time all day, I felt a genuine kind laugh stirring in my chest.