The Lonely God

40.

"Which one?" He asks as he tries to distinguish the jar I am pointing too. He seems so sleepy, I could have some fun with him.

"That one," I say pointing to a jar far above his head. He has to stand on his toes to get it.

"No not this one... that one!" I point to another jar as he hands me the previous jar I pointed to. He groans before looking for the jar my finger is pointing to. I open the jar he bought me to find chocolate chips in it. I start to devour them as I see him struggle to get another jar down.

"Not this one, I pointed to the one on the left," I pout as I point to a higher shelf. He seems one step away from slipping into a deep sleep. He's struggling to keep his eyes open as he takes down another jar for me. I devour its content as I tell him to take more jars down for me.

After some time, he lets out a growl in frustration when he realizes that I have made him take down half the jars. He glares at me as he drags me back to his room. I stifle a laugh as I stuff my mouth with some baked potato chips that I pocketed from one of the jars.

"Sleep," He commands me as he throws one of his arms around me and pulls me against his body after we've climbed on the bed. He pulls the covers over us.

"I am still not sleepy," I tell him while yawning. He looks at me amusedly. He completely throws me off when he pulls me closer and kisses me lightly. My heart flutters in my chest and a toe-curling sensation takes over me as strong sparks dance over my skin. He pulls back even before I could respond. Next, he places a kiss on my forehead before huskily muttering in my ear, "Good night, Neffie."

A gasp leaves my mouth.

What did he just call me?

~

I wake up in the morning to find him gone. I am still feeling sleepy as I get dressed for the day. The usual things happen. I meet with Armelius after breakfast and together we go to the library for my enlightenment.

"Who's Armelia?" This question suddenly leaves my mouth. Armelius' head snaps towards me and his eyes grow as big as saucers as he looks at me.

"How do you know about her?" He asks in bewilderment.

"I heard you mention her once," I tell him as I flip through some pages of the books. He continues to look at me before his gaze drops. Silence falls between us before he speaks, "She's my daughter,"

A chill runs down my spine as he says that. I look at him to see his head dropped low and his shoulders slouching. I have this feeling that this conversation is heading the wrong way but still my curious mind won't stop thinking about her so I ask further, "What happened to her?"

"Ishtar's curse killed her," He speaks as he turns his back at me and walks deeper into the library leaving me wondering how it's like to lose a child. How painful is it? Did my parents feel it too when I was taken away from them?

Suddenly, tears pool in my eyes while a lump builds up in my throat. I swallow the lump and fight back the tears as I sort the books out. I am overcome by the urge to break down into tears like yesterday but I contain myself from doing so.

The rest of the day passes with me studying in the library and later meeting some of the ministers. I see Lyco and Euclio in one of the meetings. They stare at me coldly. They're still distant and cold towards me unlike most of the ministers.

In the evening, I retire back to Arles' wing. He's not there. He has been missing all day and I take this moment to look around the palace. I decide to discover what's behind the two doors among the three that are located just after the entrance of Arles' wing.

I find a long corridor behind the first door. It leads to a huge study which I am sure belongs to Arles. The second door is familiar to me as it leads to Arles' room and the room that I used to stay in previously. The third door reveals a long corridor at the end of which there's another door. That door opens to reveal a garden. There are no flowers there, just the dead trees and the whole place is covered with snow.

There are woods at the end of the garden. A small and faded trail disappears in the woods. Feeling curious, I decided to follow the trail. The trees in the woods are all dead and naked, covered with snow. After walking for some time, I reach an intersection where three roads are meeting. I can't decide which road to take but for some reason, I end up taking the road that seems to be least traveled.

It leads me to a deserted village. The houses are abandoned and almost destroyed by time and weather. I use my fire to look around this deserted and abandoned place. I walk throughout the village before reaching at its end.

While I am peaking inside a house, I hear whispers behind me. I turn around sharply to look who it is. I find no one there. Again as the wind blows and ruffles my hair, I hear more whispers. I listen carefully before following the direction they seem to be coming from.

Just when I come across the last abandoned house in the village, I find a huge graveyard. The whispers seem to be coming from the graveyard. I want to go back since it's already dark but I feel this invisible force pulling me inside the graveyard.

I keep walking inside the graveyard. The tombstones are old and breaking down into ruins and it's hard to read the names on them. I come across a well which is located at the center of the graveyard. The well is huge and unused for a long time. When I listen carefully, I realize that the whispers are coming from the well. They're echoing inside the well.

There are so many voices inside the well. They seem alive and speaking to me. I can't make out what they're saying but they have this odd aura about them that seems to be pulling me towards the well more.

Collecting all the courage that I have inside me, I peek inside the well. That's when I feel a cold and rough hand pulling me inside the well...

...

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