Atlantian

Becoming Atlantian [15] unedited

Chapter 15

Dawn was peeking through the gaps in Achilles’ black tent before anyone even dared to speak. Aubrey sat on a chair just staring at the smooth skin which should have been broken and bloody, or at the very least burnt, but was completely blemish-free. Even the freckles that had adorned her pale skin for her entire life were now smoothed away into milky white perfection.

A burst of light filled the gloomy tent as Briseis stepped through the doorway with her petite figure momentarily blocking the light before she brought out a platter of fruits and meats from behind her back. The gentle breeze that swept in with her caused the mouth-watering scents to wash over the occupants of the tent. Aubrey smiled at the younger woman and took the offered platter with both hands. She inhaled deeply before turning her attention to the man who had kept his fierce stare on her the entire night. It was like he was waiting for the red head to burst in flames or vanish in a puff of smoke but all she had done was stare incredulously at herself.

“So…?” Briseis spoke before falling into an awkward silence when Achilles startled at the sudden sound and almost fell from his perch on the edge of a table.

Clearing her throat, Aubrey smiled up at the younger woman, feeling much older than her twenty odd years.

“Do you mind if we eat? I’m kind of starved.” The red head met Achilles gaze as she spoke, refusing to back away from his penetrating stare,

A stiff nod was all she got in response so she just spun on her seat and faced the platter, eying up the dubious looking meats before shrugging and taking in a deep breath so she could surround herself with the smell of cooked meat. For a moment she looked around for cutlery or plates but then saw that Briseis was just pulling apart the meat with her fingers before stuffing it into her manners. For a moment she startled before giving another shrug and grabbing a succulent drumstick and picking it apart between her fingers.

The Atlantian desperately wished in that moment that she had spent more time studying Greek mythology, as it was the red head was more widely read in the worlds of Austen and the Bronte’s than anything to do with Greek etiquette for dummies.

“Achilles? Don’t you want anything?” Briseis questioned when the man stubbornly remained with his arms folded across his chest as he watched the two women eat.

He grinned at the question before pushing off of the desk and closing the distance between himself and Briseis so that his shadow fell over the young woman. A blush stained the young woman’s cheeks and she turned her gaze to the ground as she waited for the man to say or do something else.

Reaching out a hand, he brushed it past her flushed cheek before stretching behind her and snagging a piece of meat between his fingers. He brought it up to his lips in a tantalisingly slow motion which caught the attention of both females. The man smirked to himself as he dropped it onto his tongue and chewed painfully slow – all the while he was aware of their gazes on him.

“Now lady of the fire, are you going to tell me what happened on the pyre and how you are sitting here completely alive?” Achilles spoke in the lull, his voice strangely husking making the two women frown at him, one giving a delicate shiver while the older red head tilted her head to the side as she considered the man before her.

“I don’t know.” She replied after what seemed like an eternity. “All I know, is that I need to find Tiberius so I can get home. Wherever the hell that is.”

Achilles huffed and turned away from the women, a frown forming between his brows. “Is this Tiberius your lover?”

Aubrey gasped and a blush formed on her cheeks at the question. She spluttered before she could get the reply past her lips.