Pawn, volume 1 of Different Worlds

11. Someone is always watching

POV: Internal

Amaye was sitting on his thinking-chair made out of cushions- which in turn were made out of velvet decorated with elegant embroidery- inside of his thinking room.
He sat holding his chin with his left hand as he usually did when something was going on in his head. The peace coupled with the silence reigning over the room was the result of  knowing that nobody could disturb it because of the intimacy and underlined warning that if someone did, they would wish that they hadn't. The king of the gods was maybe indulgent beyond compare but the look of utter dissapointed he sometimes came to harbour was worse than any grating insuts.

However, nobody didn't include his frightingly active yet beloved sister that had just stormed in the king of the gods resting spot with her hands thrown in the air, eyes crazed and wild:

-A diner banquet etiquette lesson with Soyanara?! WHAT was going on in that pea-brain of yours when you took that decision?!, she yelled as if trying to warn hundreds of people of a disastrous event. Why is this even something I'm doing or something any god would do? The ways of the mortals do not concern us!

Gutamar was fuming, face red and fists clenched. Seeing that her brother wasn't going to answer her question, she went on with her next remark.

-She keeps on acting so frivolously and-and sugary when bellow the surface, she hates me! But she stills keeps it under wraps!, she yelped, her face marked with disgust and a kind of fear.

-Well, Soyanara has that effect, it's not really my fault, answered her brother, trying to defend himself as best as he could, though very unsecessfully.

-Not your fault? You're the one who got me doing those etiquette lessons in the first place, she said with a sigh, it isn't like this was going to make everyone forget that I was a shadow god before I came  back to the palace. You can't just overwrite that crucial bit of information.

A silence filled the room again, though notebly tenser than the one that had preceeded it. Gutamar was right, nobody would forget that she had made a pact with Luidmila, a pact that had come to slowly consume her soul. If it weren't for her brother whom had canceled that pact at a heavy price and had put a sigil on her to inactivate her shadow powers, the primordial goddess would be in the Void by now, a place where people having done extremely horrific deeds or a pact with the queen of the shadow gods would go, as well as exiled gods.
Gutamar was perfectly aware of that but she didn't really show that it effected her the least, even though she had goose bumps thinking of the cold and vicious queen that had once ruled over her very being.

She came near her brother and let herself drop onto the big, soft velvety pillow beside him, after picking up a smaller one that was even softer, her favorite teddy makeshift in the whole palace and also one of her biggest secrets that she hoped the other gods would never find out about. Teddies were clearly for children and if they found out, they would realize that she wasn't all that grown up. She just couldn't help it, as much as she negated any ties to the mortals, she needed some semblance of comfort following her long and painstalking deal with darkness itself.

-Seriously, why? It's not like I am a rampaging beast! I can behave you know, she added, confident she had found the ideal pressure-point.

-Oh really? Like the time where you drank from another god's cup?

Gutamar turned bright red with shame, recalling the little accident that had happened before. She could have told her brother that it was just one mistake but she knew he would bully her in listing all of the 'one mistakes'.
When her brother opened his mouth again, she feared the worst but was surprised when seeing that his tone had changed from teasing to concerned.

-Have you felt any peculiar dark energy coming from your Chosen one lately?, he asked, with a bit of worry in his voice.

Gutamar reflected carefully, aware that this wasn't a usual question. This one weighted as much as one of Anouk's mountains.

-No, she answered, not that I know of, however, I can feel that he has gone through atrocious pain and fear lately. Either he's a scaredy-cat, or their scenic trip isn't going too well. Both options aren't great, then with more tact, Why do you ask?

Amaye breathed in deeply, thinking of how he could rightly speak his thoughts.

-Just a few hours ago, I felt a devastating wave of dark energy hitting my Chosen one, the intensity of it has diminished but it's still there.

-Well, a few hours ago, my Chosen was feeling as if his hand had gotten ripped.

A silent installed in the room and both siblings didn't know if they should speak up or not.

 Finally, Amaye started talking again.

-I saw one of the souls that left their body brutally, of recent, and looked through their memories, one of them had been torn to shreds by a brown and blue haired girl, right after he had greatly hurt a boy that had a bounty on his head. I don't think I need to explain further since you have already probably understood whom those children are.

Gutamar leaned over her lap while supporting the weight of her head with one of her hands, elbow on her knee. Slowly but surely, her head placed the pieces of information she had received into their slots, where the information would stay and maybe come to use later.
But she and her brother didn't need to classify and reread the info to be able to come to a conclusion.

-Luidmila, that cunning viper, she hissed, What the hell is she up to?, she finally asked, already certain of the answer.

-Most probably what she was up to with the last chosen one we sent on earth. Making them rot from the inside. Last time, she succeeded, this time will be different.

No proof could back Amaye's bold claim; Gutamar could clearly hear the slight hesitation in his voice, but didn't press him.

Thoughts with fearful inclanations swarmed in both of their minds when Amaye spoke up:

-Sister, have we made a wrong choice by choosing those two children? Technically, the Vourlondi did, but I still feel responsible for them, he said with a low voice.

-It's normal for you to feel a bit protective, but this isn't your fault. I'm confident that they will be able to come to the end of their mission in stopping the emperor. They'll make it out alive.

-It is not them dying or not that perturbs me the most, it's the fact that this will leave scars on them if they make it through. Scars that will never completely disappear, seemingly torn, he then added, It's just that, they live in completely different worlds from the rest.

A long silence followed and both siblings looked at the emptiness above them, thinking of what was going to happen and if it would be a good thing.

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Good evening,
I am publishing this chapter super late, I'm sorry but I had a school trip in a volcano region in France so even when I had finished the writing, I couldn't publish. It's a bit complicated...
😅

I hope you had a nice... (1? 2? 3?..) 3 weeks!
Bye 👋!

(PS: now you finally understand why the trilogy is called 'different workds', right?)

(1261 words)