Thanatos: The Blue Dawn

(8.2)Thoughts as Deep as the Aegean

Thanatos smirked quickly when he realised that Alexus and I were seated in the courtyard where he'd planned on holding his meeting. His red eyes were fixed on mine, but I averted mine and pretended to ignore his smouldering gaze. Even across a relative distance and with several onlookers, he was trying to seduce me into his arms.

Bastard.

"Let's go." Alexus placed her napkin on the table and shifted a bit to get up from her chair. Clearly, she had no desire to stay seated and watch as Thanatos enjoyed his lunch.

I, however, was curious. "Wait." I said softly and tried not to glance in their direction, scared he might see me watching him. Out of the corner of my eye, I was spying on them. "I still have twenty minutes to relax before my next class. Let's have some coffee."

Alexus hesitated. She shot a look at Thanatos. He had signalled to the servants to bring them a round of wine and some appetizers. Their conversation carried on as if nothing had upset it, but now, their voices were more hushed. "Here? Let's go up to my room rather."

"He can't dictate where we have coffee, Alexus." I said as-a-matter-of-factly.

She shrugged; "Actually, he can. He owns this palace."

Right- not the best argument. "Fair point." I nodded my head and called to the servant. She stepped up to me with a smile. I smiled back; "Two mint teas, please."

The young woman nodded and left. Alexus watched her go, her hazel eyes narrowed. "You are too obvious."

"How so?" I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back in my chair, looking the very image of a relaxed and content maiden. From the corner of my eye, Thanatos did the same. He leaned back in the woven sofa's white cushions and thew his one leg over the other. His arm swung back and rested on the back of the seat.

Alexus spoke, but I was watching him. "You want to spy on him. It's really not worth it."

Thanatos was opening staring at me. His small smirk was knowing and his eyes were screaming at me to look at him directly. The two men seated opposite him were deep in conversation; either not noticing his absence or trying very hard not to call him out on it. Absentmindedly, I toyed with the aquamarine pendant around my neck. His gift.

"Aurora?"

"Hm?" My eyes shot back to Alexus. She lifted a brow. "I'm speaking to you."

"What's the matter?"

Alexus sighed and crossed her arm as well. She leaned back, relaxing into the chair and I saw her guard lower a bit. "Fine. Let me just tell you what you want to know..."

I blinked and frowned. I let her speak before I uttered something I'd regret.

"The man in the dark blue coat and with the dark features is Zaul." I glanced at him, his head moving slowly as he was speaking to Thanatos. "He's Thanatos' head reaper; his right-hand man. The other reaper isn't nearly as important, but a good scout. His name is Eron." She frowned and glanced sideways. "Or is is Elrow? Whatever; doesn't matter, I suppose. He's just joining their weekly meeting because Thanatos needed a full report on the surrounding areas."

"Oh, I see." Well, it saved me some embarrassment I suppose that Alexus assumed I was highly invested in Thanatos' dealings and much less in the man himself. "Interesting."

I snuck a glance at the darkly dressed god. He was watching Zaul's face as he spoke, but then caught my eye. I averted them quickly as the servant girl returned with our freshly brewed tea.

"Thank you; it smells delicious." I grinned as the cup was placed in front of me. Alexus nodded her head in thanks and the woman bowed, leaving us to add our own sugar and milk. Alexus tried to change the subject; "So the class this afternoon; are you ready for the new spells we discussed yesterday? They might pop-up."